Technology– friend and foe for women human rights defenders

Summary of story from AWID, November 25, 2011

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) present opportunities and dangers for women human rights defenders (WHRDs).

ICTs have become an indispensible part of our daily lives as we work and connect through social networking.

The use of ICTs provide WHRDs with accessible, cost effective tools to document abuses, build evidence, raise awareness, publicise and mobilize support around women’s rights issues and the risks that women activists face.

Using social networking tools and email means that WHRDs are able to reach out to millions of people quickly and get help with urgent calls to action.

ICTs, therefore, amplify the voice of WHRDs as well as providing an opportunity to be connected with and supported by other WHRDs in different places.

The ability to stay anonymous is another advantage of using ICTs.

But there is a downside. According to Jennifer Radloff, Senior project coordinator at the Women’s Networking Support Programme, “Violence against women online is a real and frightening reality […] there are countless cases of women bloggers being threatened with violence for expressing their opinions online.”

Margaret Sekaggya, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, found on her third report to the UN Human Rights Council that women defenders are more at risk of suffering certain forms of violence and other violations than their male counterparts.

Attempts by authorities to constrain WHRDs from using ICTs to their full potential take a range of forms, including interference with Internet services, use of legal restrictions, email surveillance and monitoring, computer confiscation, virus and spyware attacks as well as harassment, intimidation and reprisals.

According to Radloff: “The tools that we use to communicate, share and create change with are the same tools that the state and anti-progressive forces can use to track, trace and target us. ICT tools are not neutral and were created for purposes and by people with specific agendas that are not necessarily progressive”.

WHRDs need to understand online privacy and security issues and learn how to defend themselves and be safe online.

(See original story for tools on how to stay safe.)