Many gender equality and women’s empowerment related events are taking place at the World Summit on the Information Society Forum in Geneva. Jac sm Kee from APC Women’s Rights Programme participated in the High Level Dialogue on “Women’s Empowerment in the Information Society: Systemic, Scalable Strategies.”

APC will participate in the upcoming World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum, taking place in Geneva from 14-16 May. APC endorses statements submitted by members of civil society involved in the process, and calls the International Telecommunications Union to consider them as a key input for the Forum. Read the documents.

One of the main complaints by women during the discussions at the World Summit on the Information Society focused on the need for more women to participate in decisions about the development of the Internet, and the discussion and implementation of public policies aimed at building an inclusive information society, without discrimination based on gender or any other grounds.

The UN Working Group on Discrimination Against Women in Law and Public Life launched its thematic report, which received inputs from various stakeholders, among them APC. The final report reflects how women are participating online, some of the ways in which discrimination is taking place and the impact of that discrimination.

APC and its seven country partners have achieved milestones after their first year of work on the project “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online.” APCNews interviewed Jan Moolman, project coordinator, about the main highlights of this first year and the challenges and expectations for the year ahead.

From 19 to 22 March 2013 Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) met in Istanbul for a Training of Trainers workshop on digital security. Participants were selected by the WHRD International Coalition. With increasing online threats to the freedom of expression and association and because they are women, WHRDs face many unique threats online that can hinder their activism.

The 57th Commission on the Status of Women took place from 4 to 15 March 2013 at United Nations Headquarters under the theme “Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.” Setting a milestone for internet and women’s rights, this year’s conclusions include a paragraph on violence against women related to information and communication technologies.

The Take Back the Tech! local campaign developed by APC member Bytes for All, Pakistan won the “innovative campaign award” from the Avon Foundation. B4A says they will continue to work on strengthening women’s use of technology to raise awareness and combat violence against women in Pakistan.

Are you member of a non-governmental or a community-based organisation? Are you an academic or a researcher? Do you work within networks or coalitions? Are you an independent blogger? If you are a sexuality rights activist and you use the internet in your work, this call is for you.

This video was developed by Bytes for All Pakistan, a country partner in the Association for Progressive Communication’s project “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online.” “Don´t cover the crimes of your harassers and report them to bring a change” is the key message of this outstanding video.