adminFrom Audrey Chihota-Charamba in
New York
UN member states should accelerate the active participation of women and girls in science and technology across various spheres of life to enable them to keep abreast with global technological advancement in social and economic spheres, UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has said.
Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 67) which began yesterday in New York, Guterres said that even without formal education in digital technologies, women and girls are already making use of the online banking, access to health care, address climate change through survival efforts of accessing alternative energy and many other ways.
He underscored the need for active participation as pivotal to promoting gender equality, social and economic growth, as well as mitigating various forms of gender-based violence, particularly online harassment, cyber bullying and misogyny even in the workplace.
“Three ways to accelerate women and girls’ participation would be through education, deliberate promotion of women leadership in science and technology and ensuring safe digital environment for women and girls by reducing harm and increasing accountability,” he said.
The priority theme: “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”, comes on the heels of Zimbabwe having instituted the Cyber and Data protection Act (chapter 12:07) of 2021, which seeks to make digital spaces safe and secure for all Zimbabweans.
The Act seeks to “increase cyber security in order to build confidence and trust in the secure use of information and communication technologies by data controllers, their representatives and data subjects”. It criminalises the circulation, by computer or information system, of false data messages about a person, which are intended to cause psychological or economic harm.
Various crimes, including heinous acts of violence against women have often been a result of abuse of online spaces. Several cases of Intimate Partner Violence are often hinged on the use of mobile phones, social media and access to online / digital spaces. Despite the existence of the Act, very few women and girls have made use of the law to promote their safety and security.
Reports of abusive text messages and online trolling have, over the last few months been recorded by the Zimbabwe Republic Police. However, limited prosecutions have been noted as victims often withdraw cases, again as a result of further harassment.
Zimbabwe recorded the first prosecuted case of cyber bullying in May 2022 of a Chinhoyi Tik Tok user who was sued by a police officer for sending viral a video of the latter without consent.
Many women in Zimbabwe have often found social media awash with images and messages sent in confidence to their partners, while others have tolerated abusive language sent via email and social media without seeking recourse.
“The Zimbabwe Gender Commission has not received many complaints of digital GBV. This may be that targets, most of whom are women, are not aware that they can complain on this issue. Or where they are aware, they may also fear reprisal after making the reports,” said Virginia Muwanigwa, CEO of the ZGC, speaking on the side-lines of the official opening.
“However, the existence of the law is an opportunity to address GBV for women across the social divide. ZGC has been using technology to raise awareness on all forms of violence, to receive general complaints, and to enable participation of Zimbabweans in redressing gender-based violations,” she added.
The Zimbabwe Gender Commission, through its complaints mechanism, enables both women and men to report various forms of abuses, including digital violence
As part of its mandate, the ZGC is committed to “doing everything necessary to mitigate GBV”. As one of the Independent Commissions, ZGC is actively participating at CSW 67 and will be showcasing its work and reflecting on its role in promoting gender equality and mitigating GBV, alongside other Gender Commissions in the Africa Region.
According to Gender Media Connect (GMC), it is widely acknowledged that online violence, particularly GBV is prevalent online. There is a little of misogyny, bullying, hate speech, threats of violence/rape, especially against women who are in the public eye. These include female politicians, journalists, radio personalities, as well as marginalized communities such as key populations, making online navigation extremely unsafe. In a study by Media Monitors for 2018 elections, it was noted that many female politicians shy away from online spaces because of violence and abuse.
“There is general under reporting because there are few effective platforms. Where women report to the platform itself such as Twitter and Face-book, feedback has been that complaints are ignored or simply do not get recourse. There are few other platforms to report. The anonymity of trolls and bullies online make it difficult to identify perpetrators even where people want to report, says Patience Zirima, National Coordinator of GMC. There is therefore need for increased media and information literacy, and digital literacy, she says.
A study by the National Association of Social Workers reveals that motives for cyberbullying among high school learners in Zimbabwe include social differences, peer pressure, exposure to violent media, intimate relationships, fun and boredom, low self-esteem and jealousy. The effects of cyberbullying are reported to be poor mental health, low school attendance rate, emotional instability, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, truancy and bad relationships among the learners.
While it does not make reference to the Data and Cyber protection Act, the study acknowledges the need for high school learners to be educated on safe and healthy methods of using information communication technologies and the importance of monitoring of online activities both at home and school so as to create a cyber-bullying free learning environment.
The CSW is an annual conference convened by the UN to unite women from member states across the world to learn from each other and inform strategies of addressing gender equality. The two-week long conference seeks to explore various areas of technology and innovation, among them how women can participate actively in the use of Artificial Intelligence in promoting economic growth, and the importance of seamless advancement in the uptake of digital economy jobs in light of global challenges such as climate change and addressing misinformation and disinformation retarding socio-economic development.
Zimbabwe’s delegation is led by the Minister of Women Affairs, Small to Medium Enterprises, Dr Sithembiso Nyoni.
Online Reporter