A/HRC/38/47
Foundation,49 based in Pakistan, which addresses online harassment, technology and gender
through research, advocacy and service delivery. Its Cyber Harassment Helpline is the
region’s first dedicated helpline for cases of online harassment and violence.
87.
Awareness-raising initiatives have been organized, such as the Internet Democracy
Project,50 a not-for-profit initiative based in New Delhi, which provides research, advocacy
and spaces for debate on online violence and its prevention. In Germany, rape crisis centres
and women’s counselling centres seek to raise awareness, provide support and educate on
preventing online violence.51 Another example is the International Federation of Journalists,
which, together with the South Asia Media Solidarity Network, has campaigned against the
online abuse of women journalists and launched in March 2017 the ByteBack campaign,
dedicated to fighting online harassment.52 The Association for Progressive
Communications, a global network of non-governmental organizations, has organized the
“End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” project, which focuses on capacitybuilding for human rights activists and women’s organizations in the use of technology in
their activities.
88.
Lastly (among many others), the Project Shift: Creating a Safer Digital World for
Young Women, led by YWCA Canada, aims to prevent and eliminate cyberviolence
against young women and girls. The project has also led to the preparation of “A Guide for
Trusted Adults: Practical Tips and Tools for Supporting Girls and Young Women
Navigating Life Online”.53
IV. Conclusion and recommendations
89.
International human rights law and the Sustainable Development Goals and
targets on achieving gender equality, empowering women and girls and eliminating
violence against women in public and private life are fully applicable in digital spaces
and actions enabled by ICT. Moreover, the principle that human rights and women’s
rights protected offline must also be protected online should fully integrate the right
to live free from emerging forms of online and ICT-facilitated violence against women,
while respecting the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy and data
protection. Given its characteristics, ICT should serve as a tool for accelerating the
achievement of all human rights, including gender equality, the empowerment of
women and the elimination of discrimination and violence against women.
90.
Legal and policy measures to eradicate online gender-based violence against
women should be framed within the broader framework of human rights that
addresses the structural discrimination, violence and inequalities that women face,
and seek to create an enabling environment for achieving gender equality through the
use of ICT.
91.
To achieve the above-mentioned goals, any effective response to online genderbased violence against women will require the cooperation of States, Internet
intermediaries and all other stakeholders on the acceptance and implementation of all
core international human rights instruments, including those on women’s rights.
A.
Recommendations for the United Nations
92.
The Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy, the Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and
other special procedure mandate holders and relevant treaty bodies should
49
50
51
52
53
18
See https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/cyber-harassment-helpline.
See http://internetdemocracy.in.
See www.frauen-gegen-gewalt.de/the-federal-association.html.
See https://samsn.ifj.org/ifj-byteback-campaign/.
Available from http://ywcacanada.ca/data/documents/00000543.pdf.
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