13/09/2023
A few days ago we gave an interview to Kyveli Hatzizisis from AΘΗνέα, whom we sincerely thank, regarding our action on issues of gender inequality in the digital age. We would also like to thank Asimina Koliniati for putting us in touch.
The following is a part of the interview.
Can you, even in “titles”, describe what rights are being violated?
Anastasia Karagianni (A.K.): Firstly, the fundamental right of gender equality and non-discrimination protected by both international and European treaties (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the European Charter of Human Rights) as well as by the Constitution (article 4, par. 5). How these rights are violated varies. For example, the under-representation of role models in jobs with a technical background, in computer science or data science (STEM occupations), and correspondingly the low percentage of girls/women/femininities studying/working in these fields, as well as the lower pay for the same work, testify to the discriminatory and unequal treatment of women/femininities in the digital environment.
The internet creates fertile ground for the escalation of gender-based violence, that is, that violence that occurs because of the victim’s gender. There are many ways for this to happen. Characteristic and indicative examples are the following: image-based sexual abuse, sexist hate speech, cyberstalking, online sexual extortion (sextortion). In these cases, the dignity of the individual and the right of each person to live free from violence, both in the public and private spheres, are violated.
Anthi Argyriou (AA): The Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, as well as domestic violence, states in article 3 that the term “violence against women” is understood as a violation of human rights and as a form of discrimination against women and means all acts of gender-based violence that result or are likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats to do so actions, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether it occurs in public or private life. Perhaps this aptly captures what happens when a person receives gender-based violence, whether in analog or digital reality.
“The internet – as we know – is used every day by billions of users. This means, for example, that if a person’s photo or video with personal content is leaked by an attacker located in Athens, another person located in Sri Lanka can at the same time be watching their content.”
You can find the entire interview at the link here.
