Eun Mee Kim is a respected sociologist and President of Ewha Womans University in the Republic of Korea. As UN Women National Goodwill Ambassador, she recently spoke at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women and the Economy Forum Side Event on Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence hosted by UN Women Knowledge and Partnerships Centre in Seoul.
Technology-facilitated gender-based violence has become one of the fastest-growing human rights violations of our time. It encompasses a wide range of abuses: online harassment, cyberstalking, image-based sexual abuse, doxxing, non-consensual deepfake pornography, hate speech and large-scale misogynistic campaigns. …
In the APEC region, recent studies reveal that nearly 60 per cent of women in Australia have experienced some form of online harassment; in the Philippines, over 70 per cent of young women have been exposed to abusive comments or threats on social media platforms; and in Malaysia, 40 per cent of women report receiving unsolicited sexually-explicit images or messages online. …
Digital technological manipulations and crimes are much more difficult than traditional crimes for policies, regulations and responses to detect and prosecute. … Therefore, it is imperative that we work together … to help find solutions everywhere and for everyone.
I would like to propose three priority actions:
First, we must urgently strengthen and modernize legal and policy frameworks. Many jurisdictions still lack clear definitions of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, let alone legislation that addresses AI-generated abuse or facilitates cross-border cooperation on digital crimes.
Second, prevention and empowerment must be at the heart of our efforts. Public awareness campaigns, AI (artificial intelligence) literacy initiatives for girls and women, and programmes engaging men and boys in transforming harmful online cultures are indispensable. Equally important is investing in opportunities for women to lead in technology and AI sectors, ensuring that those most affected by digital harms are empowered to help shape the solutions.
Third, we must forge serious and sustained collaboration with the technology sector – and AI developers – to tackle technology-facilitated gender-based violence by building AI systems that detect, prevent and respond to online violence. From enhancing content-moderation algorithms to deploying survivor-centred AI tools that track and remove harmful content, the private sector’s role is pivotal.”