Women’s rights: achieving gender equality in the digital transition
- MEPs set their priorities for the upcoming UN Commission on the Status of Women
- Fight against impunity of perpetrators of gender-based cyber violence
- Policies on digital transition must take into account gender-specific needs
Ahead of the 67th UN Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW67) in New York in March, Parliament spelled out its priorities on Wednesday.
In a resolution adopted on Wednesday, MEPs reiterate that women’s economic independence and empowerment is central to achieving gender equality and guaranteeing women’s rights.
Setting out their priorities for the upcoming UNCSW session in March, MEPs call for girls, women and people with diverse gender identities to have universally accessible, safe and secure digital connectivity. The post-pandemic recovery needs to take place in line with the green and digital transitions, they say - any policies connected with the digital transition must take into account gender-specific needs.
Ending gender-based violence and cyber violence
MEPs condemn the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war in armed conflicts, specifically their ongoing use in Russia’s unjustified attack on Ukraine.
Highlighting the need to ensure full access to online information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including the right to safe and legal abortion, they call for robust processes that prevent any personal data from being used against those seeking an abortion.
International efforts to fight against the impunity of perpetrators of gender-based cyber violence must be strengthened, say MEPs. Legal and sociological solutions for online and technology-facilitated gender-based violence should be sought, they stress, that take account of issues such as non-consensual distribution and manipulation of intimate images and information, the use of deepfake technologies to generate harmful images, online hate speech, cyber harassment, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, hacking, identity-theft and sharing content without consent. Information and communications technology (ICT) should be promoted as a tool to combat gender discrimination and gender-based violence, as well as to achieve work-life balance.
Online platforms need to be regulated more strongly, they say, to protect women’s rights and eliminate gender-based violence online.
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Robert BIEDROŃ (S&D, Poland) Chair of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee, said: “The gender gap in digital access and skills persists, with women remaining digitally marginalised. It is thus of utmost importance that the European Union shows strong leadership and takes a unified position on the importance of empowering women and girls in all their diversity and achieving gender equality in the digital transformation. In addition, we must take strong action to univocally denounce the current backlash against gender equality and to support calls for the standardisation of women’s rights.”
Background
The Beijing Declaration was adopted by the UN at the end of the 4th World Conference on Women on 15 September 1995 to promulgate a set of principles on the equality of men and women. The Platform for Action called for strategic actions in areas such as economy, education, health, violence and decision-making. The UN CSW67 will focus on innovation and technological change and on education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. A delegation of MEPs on the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee will attend the UN CSW67 in New York, 6-10 March.
Contacts:
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Natalie Kate KONTOULIS
Press Officer