Session
Human Rights & Freedoms
Non-discrimination in the Digital Space
Organizer 1: Smita V, Our Voices Our Futures Consortium
Organizer 2: Sandra Aceng, WOUGNet
Organizer 3: Velasco Karla, Association for Progressive Communications
Speaker 1: Sandra Aceng, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 2: Subha Wijesiriwardena, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 3: Tanveer Anoy, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Nadia van der Linde, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 5: Sheena Magenya, Civil Society, African Group
Smita V, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Velasco Karla, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Sandra Aceng, Civil Society, African Group
Round Table - 90 Min
How are you seeing anti-gender and anti-democracy mobilisations manifest in your context?
What are feminist and women’s rights organizations doing about or at the intersections of these anti-gender and anti-democracy mobilisations? And what more can/should we be doing and what are the resources and strategies we need?
What will participants gain from attending this session? A number of diverse feminist and human rights organizations are coming together from across the world to emphasize our shared belief that to achieve justice, equality and liberation, we must combat and dismantle the patriarchal systems of power which continue to oppress and exclude many of us.
We understand that our liberation is fundamentally and intrinsically joined together. Feminist human and social rights movements stand united against threats to democracy and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles of human rights, social justice and equality.
Intersectional feminism analyzes power by recognizing that there is no homogeneity in our experiences of gender, sex and sexuality, and that diverse people experience varying levels of discrimination, oppression and privilege. We commit to continuously learning and deepening our understanding of intersectionality, feminism, and the rights of LGBTQIA+ people and unlearning internalized patterns of sexism, racism and colonialism.
Description:
Anti-gender and anti-democracy actors are increasingly using digital space and deploying digital technologies to gain ground across a number of contexts around the world, and influence major democratic and political events, with deep and long-lasting impact on our communities and our futures. This requires us to urgently draw attention to the issue of digital technologies through a rights perspective.
This session will also look at the sale, purchase, use and deployment of AI and emerging technologies by anti-democracy and anti-gender actors, which in turn to erode democratic processes without any of the actors being held accountable for the same. This directly impacts on people’s personal as well as political freedoms and rights.
Women’s rights, feminist and LGBTIQ organizations are coming together to reiterate our commitment to key feminist principles and stand united against anti-gender and anti-democracy attacks.
In order to have an Internet That We Want, it’s essential to recognise there are systemic collusions taking place between stakeholders which undermine and clamp down on rights of structurally silenced and marginalised communities. We cannot push back against this and ask for accountability unless we understand how these mobilisations between anti-gender and anti-democracy actors are happening, relying heavily on technology and the internet. This session will be a space to have these conversations and also learn about the different iterations of the same in different countries.
Hybrid Format: There will be a dedicated online moderator to ensure that online participants’ input and questions are collected and shared in the onsite session. The online moderator will support the onsite moderator in making sure that online participants are also engaged efficiently.
A slido page will be set up and displayed in the session venue so that participants who are onsite can directly read the comments and inputs by others, online and onsite.