Equity matters everywhere: Three priorities for ending online gender-based violence

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day (8 March) is #EmbraceEquity. It serves as an important reminder that working toward ​‘equal opportunities’ is not enough, and that women and communities around the world start from different places. To create a truly inclusive world where women of all backgrounds have equal opportunities, we need to #EmbraceEquity. It’s only through the process of equity that we can reach the ultimate goal of equality.

Over the past year, Social Finance has worked alongside the World Wide Web Foundation and a network of feminist digital rights organisations and researchers from across the globe on the issue of online gender-based violence (OGBV). Together, we’ve developed a global landscape of OGBV that includes an interactive map, inventories and case studies of data, policies and initiatives.

This work is guided by an ambition to create an internet that is free from violence and for innovation and technological progress to support rather than hinder gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

According to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit:

The digital world has become a new front in the assault on the freedom and power of women. Women and girls are experiencing a surge of violence and abuse online. This abuse takes many forms: perpetrators might threaten women online with physical or sexual violence, or subject women to sexist or misogynistic comments, share non-consensual intimate images of a woman, or publicly share someone’s personal information with the aim to cause them distress and alarm (known as doxxing). Globally, 38% of women have reported being personally subject to online violence. This rises to 45% for Gen Zs and millennials. 

Abuse isn’t any less harmful because it happens behind a screen. OGBV can have devastating consequences for the reputations and the physical and mental health of those targeted. It can cost women their jobs and damage relationships. Furthermore, online abuse can silence, discredit, and censor women’s voices online. 

1. Tech companies are pursuing a universal ​‘one size fits all’ approach 

Tech companies engage and collaborate with civil society organisations and researchers on the issue of OGBV. However, activities in this context are inconsistent, ad-hoc, and often with a bias towards English-speaking organisations. This means universal solutions or interventions to address OGBV are developed based on the needs of women in high-income countries with no recognition of potentially different needs among women in the Global Majority. For example, algorithms have inherent racial biases or blocking tools and reporting buttons are only available in English. 

For a truly equal experience for women online, we need to #EmbraceEquity and push tech companies to recognise the need to engage with civil society stakeholders from across the globe to understand different needs and make adjustments. 

2. Different experiences among women across the globe need to be better recognised

While women from all ages, regions and professions are affected by OGBV, there are certain communities who are particularly impacted. Women experiencing other forms of discrimination are more at risk, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community and indigenous women, as are women working in the public eye. The experience of OGBV, as well as the definition of, for example, what constitutes an ​‘intimate image’, also varies considerably across different regions and cultural contexts.

To address OGBV, we therefore need to #EmbraceEquity by working to understand the issue in its entire complexity, and recognise the great range of experiences within different circumstances and contexts, in order to identify effective strategies for change.

3. There is a lack of funding and support for organisations from the Global Majority

Civil society is at the forefront of driving initiatives across multiple levels, including influencing policy and legislation, supporting victims / survivors, shaping the public narrative and conducting important research. In our work, we identified over 150 different civil society, research and philanthropic organisations working to tackle OGBV, which only represents a sample of those working on this issue all over the world. While there is an overall lack of funding supporting the work of organisations in this space, there is a particular need for more funding to support those from the Global Majority, who often face particular discrimination and opposition without the adequate funding to support and protect them. 

We need to #EmbraceEquity and convince funders to channel funding to activists, campaigners and researchers from the Global Majority to amplify and elevate their voices.

To learn more about our work on online gender-based violence, visit the website or get in touch with luisa.braig@socialfinance.org.uk.