A/HRC/35/9 financial services. 106 However, without access to ICTs, women may not have the opportunity to benefit from these potentially powerful technological tools.107 IV. Conclusions and recommendations 43. Important gender disparities in access to and use of ICTs persist and hinder women’s exercise of their human rights. Furthermore, violations of women’s human rights online can exacerbate the gender digital divide. Without a determined effort to remedy this situation, there is a significant risk that technology will widen gender inequalities in society. 44. Human rights should serve as the framework for bridging the gender digital divide. International human rights norms and principles, especially equality, nondiscrimination, inclusion, participation and the provision of effective remedies, should guide any action taken in response to issues of access, use and misuse of ICTs. While interest in addressing the gender digital divide appears to be growing, there seems to be insufficient attention paid to framing it as a human rights issue. 45. Gender equality should be promoted in the design and implementation of ICTs and in the policy decisions and frameworks that regulate them. It is critical for all stakeholders to invest in creating an enabling and empowering ICT environment that serves the needs of women by respecting, protecting and promoting their human rights online. With regard to new and emerging data-driven technologies, there is now a critical window of opportunity to ensure that these technologies are human rights compliant and do not replicate or exacerbate existing patterns of discrimination against women. Need for a human rights-based approach to bridging the gender digital divide 46. States and business enterprises should ensure that the development and deployment of ICTs, including new data-driven technologies, is guided and regulated by international human rights law, including principles of gender equality, in order to facilitate the realization of human rights for women and avoid any adverse human rights impacts, intentional or unintentional. The treatment and use of ICTs must fully reflect the principle that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online. Further research and gender analysis is needed concerning the impacts of big data-driven technologies on women’s human rights. Particular attention should be paid to the risk of an emerging data gender gap and potential data bias. 47. States and business enterprises should adopt proactive measures to ensure women’s equal and meaningful participation online, including by addressing the underrepresentation of women in science, technology and engineering sectors, particularly in leadership positions. 48. Business enterprises in the ICT sector should embed gender equality and diversity as core values across organizational and employment policies. 49. Civil society organizations should play an active role in educating and supporting women in accessing, exercising and achieving their human rights online. Access to information and communications technology and the necessary infrastructure 50. States should apply a comprehensive human rights-based approach in providing and expanding access to ICTs. They should adopt and implement ICT 106 107 14 See Asli Demirguc-Kunt and others, “The Global Findex Database 2014: measuring financial inclusion around the world”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7255 (2015), p. 15. The Secretary-General’s high-level panel on women’s economic empowerment has called for law, policies and regulations to support digital inclusion while addressing safety, privacy and data protection concerns (see Leave No One Behind: A Call to Action for Gender Equality and Women’s Economic Empowerment (2016), p. 69).