Digital gender violence “affects democratic life because it silences voices,” highlighted this Thursday the Ombudsman of the city of Buenos Aires, María Rosa Muiños, during the signing of a letter of commitment to address this problem in which different entities together with the United Nations (UN).
“Digital gender violence not only affects people physically or personally, but also affects democratic life, public discussion, because this silences voices. We want to put this in evidence,” Muiños stressed at the Ombudsman’s office where it was signed the commitment “Ten points against digital gender violence”.
Among the organizations that participated in the signing of the agreement were Spotlight, UN Women Argentina, United Nations Population Fund, Red de Editoras de Género, Faro Digital, Unicef, Amnesty International Argentina, Grooming Argentina, Actrices Argentinas, Women in Games Argentina and Avon Foundation.
Also the Women in Equality Foundation, Association of Women Penalists Argentina, Casa Trans, Latin American Study of Justice and Gender (ELA), Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) and Fundación Huésped.
The best-known type of digital gender violence is “non-consensual dissemination of content”also “the macho and violent discourses that are disciplining for women and diversities” and the “harassment, such as the non-consensual sending of intimate images”he listed in a dialogue with Télam Lucía Finboim, a founding member of the Faro Digital organization.
Throughout the meeting, the participants emphasized that “virtual is real” and recognized those who are especially targeted by this violence as foci: women who make gender issues visible, such as journalists and politicians, and the LGBT+ collective.
“We know that those who are defending women’s rights are often victims of violence,” the head of the UN Population Fund office, Mariana Isasi, told Télam, who highlighted the Spotlight Initiative that they are carrying out together with the European Union. to eradicate violence against women and girls, and reported that they are working especially with journalists in Argentina.
In this sense, members of the Feminist Editors Networkas Silvina Molina, from Télam, and Marina Abiuso, from Todo Noticias.
“We are tired, fed up. We need more people to truly commit. It is an election year in Argentina and we need all political parties to end gender and digital violence,” said Molina, agreeing with his colleague Abiuso, who thanked the accompaniment she received after being recently attacked in the media and digital platforms.
Regarding women politicians, the deputy director of Amnesty International Argentina, Paola García Rey, highlighted to Télam that “the voices of women in the context of politics today are threatened.”
“Within the framework of (what happened to) the vice president but also other women,” said García Rey, and warned about the need to think “how do we protect women in those spaces, how do we guarantee that the contexts of violence against that are subjected do not expel them”.
“We are tired, fed up. We need more people to truly commit. It is an electoral year in Argentina and we need all political parties to end gender and digital violence”Silvina Molina
Meanwhile, the president of the Equality Foundation, Pedro Paradiso Sottile, told Télam that “there is a very large advance of violence and hate speech” that “on a daily basis they have a very strong impact on many LGBTIQ+ people in digital environments.”
“Ten points against digital gender violence”
In the agreement, the organizations committed to ten points, among which are developing coordinated work to promote a digital environment that is respectful of human rights, carrying out actions to raise awareness, prevention, awareness, and training on the subject, and promoting research. that help to denature the problem.
Also, generate instances of mutual assistance, sustain and strengthen dialogue channels with technology-based companies, support processes that classify as a crime and recognize digital gender violence, promote public policies and incorporate the perspective of women, girls and LGBT+ who have been affected by this violence.
“There is a shared responsibility between the State, the platforms and the users” to deal with digital gender violence, said García Rey.
