Feminist frequency has developed a guide to protect from online harassment. As they explain:

“This guide is for anyone who fears they might be targeted, or who is already under attack, for speaking their mind online, but is especially designed for women, people of color, trans and gender queer people, and everyone else whose existing oppressions are made worse by digital violence. It details best security practices for social media, email, online gaming, website platforms, and ensuring privacy of personal information online, as well as the documentation and reporting of harassment, and caring for yourself emotionally during an online attack. You don’t need any specialized knowledge to use this guide – just basic computer and internet skills.”

Read the full guide here: https://onlinesafety.feministfrequency.com/en/

Are there other examples of online tools available for women and girls?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn1wtNDwhmg

In Mexico, they will encourage women to go from being users to creators of the web, to challenge gender stereotypes through storytelling, to react and raise awareness about online violence and create networks to amplify collective power.

https://youtu.be/iImPC-JbF_Q

Learn more about Take Back the Tech! Mexico this Friday, 9 December during our webinar. Register here: http://bit.ly/2fMsx9i

Viet Nam’s: Their secondary schools now have an innovative teaching tool aimed at stemming gender-based violence against students, an increasingly serious problem that UN Women is helping to solve in the country.
The web-based toolkit, “Connect with Respect: Preventing Gender-based Violence in Schools,” was launched at a workshop in Hanoi last month. More than 50 teachers and education managers and experts in Viet Nam learned how to use the toolkit in the one-day training led by the Viet Nam Ministry of Education and Training and supported by United Nations agencies, including UN Women.
The toolkit provides learning activities such as role plays and group tasks that promote respectful relationships and gender equality among students from 11-14 years old. It can be adapted for use by older students, and can be used in non-formal education settings, including community learning and literacy program.

Afghanistan commits to proper implementation of laws and accountability of State actors to end violence against women.

ALBINIA: The Government of Albania commits to implement the criminal code, introduce further amendments and ensure sensitization and training of members of the judiciary, to address violence against women and girls. It further pledges to improve access to justice for vulnerable women, survivors of domestic violence, by eliminating unaffordable court fees and by enhancing free legal aid services. It will undertake regular awareness-raising and educational campaigns to make violence against women socially unacceptable and involve men and boys in combating violence against women and girls.

Algeria COMMITS to roll out comprehensive plan of action to end violence against women and girls
Algeria undertakes to strengthen the empowerment of women to better reduce the effects of economic insecurity, which often leads to discrimination and violence against women.

ARGENTINA: The State of Argentina commits to take the following national measures to end violence against women. It will establish a national hotline for victims of domestic violence, and consolidate gender mainstreaming in public policymaking. The Government will create new “Women’s Municipal Areas”, conduct workshops to train State and civil society actors on the reach of its national law on gender violence, and create a new registry for cases of violence against women. It will gather data and produce the first-ever national statistics on violence which will inform future public policies aimed at prevention and eradication of violence against women.

AUSTRALIA: The Australian Government is committed to a zero tolerance approach to domestic violence and sexual abuse, under the current National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. Australia has released the National Implementation The Plan and key initiatives has been itemised.

BELARUS: During the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, Belarus has launched a nationwide public awareness and educational campaign ‘A house without violence’ aimed at preventing domestic violence. The first stage of this campaign is promoting the recently launched toll-free hotline for victims of domestic violence. The Government of Belarus commits to develop a comprehensive national system of response to gender violence, which will include increased number of crisis rooms and improved medical, social and legal services for survivors and measures to combat male aggressive behaviour.

BELGIUM: The Government of Belgium commits to take the following steps to end violence against women and girls: Belgium commits itself to ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, and to align its policy in accordance with the provisions in the Convention. Through the new National Action Plan (NAP), Belgium commits to implement more than 120 new measures to fight against various forms of violence, including intimate partner violence, forced marriages, honour-related violence and female genital mutilation. The NAP has been updated in collaboration with the different stakeholders with new measures. Belgium will stay committed to implement its action plan to end violence against women.

Bosnia and Herzegovina commits to implement the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CAHVIO). In order to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach to preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, a Strategy to implement the Convention will be developed. The strategy will include the substantive issues of the Convention and define the strategic direction and specific strategic programs to address violence against women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It will pay attention to the prohibition of discrimination as well as include legislative and other measures to prevent violence against women and domestic violence and to protect and support victims. The Strategy will provide a mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the Convention. –

BRAZIL: The Government of Brazil commits to implement the Maria da Penha Law on Domestic and Family Violence, which calls for the establishment of special courts and stricter sentences for offenders, as well as shelters for women survivors. The Government further pledges to strengthen the National Pact for Ending Violence against Women, address trafficking of women and girls, and promote public campaigns and actions to end violence against women.

CANADA: To ensure the safety of women and girls, Canada has passed some new laws, addressing issues such as: ending house arrest for sexual assault involving serious personal injury and aggravated sexual assault; strengthening sentences for child sexual abuses; and, toughening penalties for those who import, produce and traffic in date rape drugs. Canada has been active in the collection and analysis of evidence and data on the nature, extent and impacts of violence against women and girls, including the economic costs. Canada will continue to support a range of projects to prevent and respond to the issue.

Chile makes a commitment to update its National Plan by adjusting it to the new requirements and international needs arising after the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and to share this year its know-how, experiences and good practices by means of different training activities addressed to countries of its region, including its officers, experts and civil society organizations concerned.

COLOMBIA:The Government of the Republic of Colombia expresses its commitment to “Implement a Comprehensive Plan to ensure the right to a life free of violence for Colombian women” as a strategy to end violence against women and girls in Colombia.

Denmark is committed to ensuring inclusive policies and strategies to eliminate other forms of violence against all women and girls, for example, women with disabilities, indigenous women, migrant women, adolescent girls, and honor related crimes. We will continue our efforts to implement legislative and policy measures and establish the necessary institutional mechanisms to support victims of human trafficking and ensure prosecution of traffickers.

The Dominican Republic commits to take concrete actions to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of all its national plans, projects and programmes targeting violence against women and girls. Announcing the country’s support for the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, the President signed a Declaration of Commitment of Institutions that integrates the National Commission on the Prevention and Struggle against Domestic Violence (CONAPLUVI).
The Ministry of Women has launched a new national campaign “You can: Unite Now to End Violence against Women” to raise awareness and publicize a 24-hour hotline established for women at risk of domestic violence. The Government of Dominican Republic has also launched the new “Men promise: fewer every day until we reach zero” public awareness campaign for men, with the end goal of halving the country’s rate of Femicide, etc

· Adult women but also children are targeted (https://www.letelephonedelouise.com/)

· Recent research by Norton Symantec finds 76% of women under 30 have reported abuse or harassment online. https://phoenix.symantec.com/Norton/au/online-harassment-experience-women/

· One in five female Internet users live in countries where harassment and abuse of women online is extremely unlikely to be punished. http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2015/9/cyber-violence-report-press-release

· Women are 27 times more likely as men to be harassed online. (http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/9/cyber-violence-against-women-and-girls)

· Almost one third of millenial Americans admit to being Internet trolls (http://www.bustle.com/articles/45430-online-trolling-statistics-reveal-almost-one-third-of-millennial-americans-admit-to-being-internet-trolls)

· 41% of cases are perpetrated by someone known to the survivor (http://www.genderit.org/onlinevaw/
(Source: APC report on online violence against women – Gender.it)

· 60% of reported cases are not investigated by the authorities. (http://www.genderit.org/sites/default/upload/flow_domestic_legal_remedies.pdf#page=20)

· Online violence is also taking place in the workplace.

Sara Baker is a writer, editor and consultant on gender justice and nonprofit work. She works
for APC as global coordinator of Take Back the Tech!, a call to use ICT to counter violence against women. She has created programs, developed curricula and led community, policy and legislative advocacy efforts on gender-based violence, and she serves on a variety of international task forces working on online harassment.

Lulú Barrera – Luchadoras.org (Mexico)

Mexican journalist and cyber activist Lulú Barrera, is running Luchadoras and Rompeviento TV in
Mexico. She fights for Equal Justice for Women. Lulu is a linguist by training, anthropologist because of life, and activist by decision. Luchadoras is a programme dedicated to the life of feminist activists, artists, academics, and journalists that give their life for the promotion and the defence of Women’s
human rights

Dalia Othman Tactical Tech https://tacticaltech.org/

Dalia is passionate about civic tech, data storytelling, Gender & Tech and digital rights. She coordinates the Gender and Tech programme at Tactical Tech. Prior to joining the team, she was a two-year Research Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and a Visiting Scholar at
MIT’s Center for Civic Media. Her work focused on the intersection between internet and society and particularly on civic tech, data storytelling, online discourse, and digital activism.

Prior to her fellowship at Harvard, Dalia worked at tech startups and taught New Media at both Birzeit University and Bard College (Abu Dis campus) in Palestine. She co-founded Vecbox, the first hackerspace in Palestine. Dalia holds an MA in Media, Culture and Communication from New York University.

Millions of women and girls around the world are subjected to deliberate violence because of their gender. Violence against women and girls knows no boundaries, cutting across borders, race, culture and income groups, profoundly harming victims, people around them, and society as a whole.

The growing reach of the internet, the rapid spread of mobile information and communications technologies and the wide diffusion of social media have presented new opportunities and enabled various efforts to address VAWG. However, they are also being used as tools to inflict harm on women and girls. Cyber-violence against women and girls is emerging as a global problem with serious implications for societies and economies around the world. The statistics pose risks to the peace and prosperity for all enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and, in particular, to the goals of inclusive, sustainable development that puts gender equality and the empowerment of women as key to its achievement.
We can’t keep keeping silent over this. Share your idea today.

Key Recommendations, proposing a global framework based around three ‘S’s – Sensitization, Safeguards and Sanctions.
Sensitization – Preventing cyber VAWG through training, learning, campaigning and community development to promote changes in in social attitudes and behavior.
Safeguards – Implementing oversight and maintaining a responsible internet infrastructure through technical solutions and more informed customer care practices
Sanctions – Develop and uphold laws, regulations and governance mechanisms to deter perpetrators from committing these acts.

A new report, launched by the United Nations Broadband Commission on 24 September, reveals that nearly three quarters of women online have been exposed to some form of cyber violence.

The paper argues that rigorous oversight and enforcement of rules banning cyber VAWG on the Internet will be an essential foundation stone if the Internet is to become a safe, respectful and empowering space for women and girls, and, by extension, for boys and men.
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