OSLO, Apr 12 (IPS) – Know-how emerged as a core theme of IPCI Oslo for its relevance in advancing the aims of the Cairo Programme of Motion.
When channeled for good, it’s an efficient instrument that may fill accessibility gaps within the well being sector and unfold consciousness of sexual and reproductive well being rights. But, the best way through which digital know-how has been weaponized towards SRHR is of nice concern for parliamentarians, particularly for girls.
In a plenary assembly on Thursday, parliamentarians shared their nations’ experiences of using know-how to boost sexual and reproductive well being practices (SRHR), whereas additionally cautioning its misuse as a instrument to propagate misinformation and disinformation about SRHR and to enact on-line harassment, amongst different offenses. Data and communications know-how was seen for use usually to boost consciousness of reproductive and sexual well being or to facilitate entry to providers.
Telemedicine is one instance of the best way that know-how is used to boost entry to reproductive well being providers. Nations like Tanzania and Eire noticed an elevated reliance on telemedicine and digital know-how in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, when in-person appointments weren’t an possibility, together with an elevated use of digital household planning apps which have allowed younger girls to make knowledgeable selections.
It was acknowledged that uneven entry to know-how is an indication of and can lead to inequalities on this sector, which may, as Fox Odoi-Oywelowo, a member of parliament from Uganda, remarked, hinder progress within the ICPD. Inside the healthcare sector, that is evident within the expertise and coaching of healthcare staff in city areas versus rural areas. Rural areas already face the difficulty of fewer choices for sexual and reproductive well being providers and fewer alternatives to develop digital expertise, so this digital divide is additional indicative of inequality.
Parliamentarians might discover it difficult to uphold SRHR within the first place when vocal opponents of those rights are driving on-line discourse. Girls in politics who advocate for these rights are sometimes targets of harassment. Annie Hoey of Eire’s Seanad Eirann Social gathering recounted her personal expertise of harassment. She famous in such instances that not solely was the politician attacked on a person degree, however the social challenge could be attacked as effectively, and any particular person concerned by affiliation would face harassment on-line.
The influence of this on SRHR is that ladies in politics are threatened or prevented from doing their job. Developments in SRHR insurance policies are drafted by girls parliamentarians, usually primarily based on lived experiences, and girls in politics have a public platform by means of which they’ll increase consciousness on the problems. But when they’re pushed away from public life out of worry for his or her security, the problems might not get picked up once more. On the parliamentarian degree, there could be nobody to advocate for these rights to be enshrined.
Neema Lugangira, MP, Tanzania, stated that this type of technology-facilitated gender-based violence on girls in politics may cause them to retreat from on-line areas, a type of “self-censorship,” which may “shrink democracy.”
“To get extra girls in politics, we must be on-line,” she stated. “If we need to actually reap the benefits of the paths to know-how, which can influence extra younger girls and women who’re largely marginalized, now we have to make these on-line areas protected. As a result of how are we going to entry the knowledge if the net house is just not protected?”
This additionally ties again to the idea of bodily autonomy and the proper to stay safely in a single’s physique. “If there are threats of violence on-line that may then grow to be in-person, that’s, I believe, an influence on our sexual and reproductive well being as a result of we are able to’t stay as totally,” Hoey advised IPS.
She defined that she knew of ladies politicians who obtained abortions and needed to be personal about this in worry of going through judgement and scrutiny from critics on-line.
“All of this on-line discourse of demonizing girls, demonizing girls in politics… signifies that different components of our lives are underneath menace. Individuals ought to be capable to entry abortions whether or not they need to or not, whether or not they’re girls parliamentarians or not. This on-line discourse creates an absence of security for girls to do this.”
This is only one instance of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TF-GBV), the place on-line harassment results in a worry of security for one’s life and even dangers lowering girls’s public presence.
UNFPA defines this as an act of violence dedicated utilizing digital media and communications applied sciences towards an individual on the idea of their gender. Different examples additionally fall into the class of cybercrimes, equivalent to cyberstalking, doxxing, and revenge porn.
What the discussions revealed was that there remained gaps on the legislative degree to handle violence towards girls in on-line areas, particularly for girls in politics. Gender inequality in politics endured inside communities that perpetuated gender inequality on a societal degree. When it got here to how know-how factored into this, it was recognized that this could develop at a quicker charge than laws might preserve as much as deal with it. Nonetheless, it was vital to revisit the laws and be sure that it might shield all susceptible communities.
“As parliamentarians, we’re completely poised, completely positioned, to make sure this laws is in place,” Alando Terrelonge, MP, Jamaica, stated because the session reached its conclusion. “We’ve an obligation of care to ourselves, in addition to an obligation of care to girls, youngsters, and different susceptible teams, to make sure that applicable laws is in place everywhere in the world and is enacted.”
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