Twenty years ago, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a roadmap for gender equality, was adopted by 189 countries. Section J of the Beijing Platform addresses women and the media, which fits into the work of APC Women’s Rights Programme: ensuring women’s access to and participation in the development of information and communications technology (ICT), advocating for women’s freedom of expression, and working to prevent technology-based violence against women.

APC’s advocacy for the re-prioritisation of Section J at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women asks governments to recognise the critical role that the media and ICT play in both advancing and stifling women’s rights. At the same time, it is vital that women’s rights activists and organisations examine how ICT affects their work and take up Section J demands.

To that end, 10 Points on Section J describes ICT’s growing impact on a variety of issues related to women’s rights, from access and agency to economics and ecology. Learn more about each of the 10 issues and related demands and draw on this resource as you work to inject gender equality into all aspects of media and technology, increasing women’s ability to fully enjoy their rights online and off.

  1. Access to infrastructure
  2. Expression, information, agency
  3. Economy and sustainable development
  4. Privacy and autonomy
  5. Decision making, public participation, activism
  6. STEM
  7. Violence against women
  8. Environment
  9. Women’s participation in media
  10. Women’s representation in the media

Image source is the occasional bulletin of the International Women’s Tribune Centre prepared for the 5 year review of the United Nations Platform for Action in 2000.

Source: GenderIT.org

How technology issues impact women’s rights: 10 points on Section J