By: Besan Jaber

Two main complex issues emerge in the discussions and debates over risks and potential gender-based violence in cyberspace. The first is an issue of science: the field of Cyber and digital security is new, rapidly growing but invasively impacting our everyday lives. The second is a social issue, gendered violence in the digital space, an issue that continues to be challenging for many stakeholders, governments, and practitioners. Here, I navigate these issues with a gender lens to see how gendered their impact is and what consideration we are mindful of.

Cyber Security and GBV

In practice, the lack of consideration for gender in cybersecurity led to a culture where certain technological misuse is tolerated if not enabled. Although global experts and advocates[1] are frequently pushing public discussion and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT- any physical objects that can connect to the internet) to consider the impact on gender, more work is needed.

The definition and conceptualization of gendered-based cyber violence remain a challenge. A recent report by the European Institute for Gender Equality concludes that a few characteristics of digital and cyber environments contribute to this challenge. These mainly are centred around the diversity of violence risks, the multiply of cyberspaces, and their interconnectivity. In addition, we find these in the cross-cultural borderless spaces nearly impossible to contain, regulate, or monitor.

In the Arab world, cyber or digital security can be considered a newly introduced concept or field, especially in our debates over access and participation in digital public spaces. Moreover, widely used and accessible technology has become a tool of violence or threat against women and youth, especially social media and SMS messaging with more capabilities for finding misplaced devices. The Global Positioning System (GPS) in cars and phones is one of the most enabling and powerful tools used to harass, stalk, and abuse victims of gender-based violence (GBV).

As the global community continues to navigate this concept, women and girls in Arab societies continue to navigate the ways in which society treats risks and violence in the digital sphere. A recent study found that about half (49%) of women internet users in the Arab States reported feeling unsafe from only online harassment[2].

Here is a list of considerations to be taken as precautions or protection measures to mitigate the risks of GBV:

1. Digital spaces as social spaces: they are gendered, and they are unequal

Considering and addressing gender differences and biases in the digital sphere must be integrated into our plans to safeguard access and participants of all youth in these spaces. Digital spaces are also social spaces constitutive of power dynamics based on race, gender, class and other social categories.

2. Violence in the social world is perpetuated by that in the digital space and vice versa

The relationship between societies and digital spaces is deeply connected. It is not simply a reflection of one another but also a relationship of interdependence. A society where certain types of abuse, threat, or violence are tolerated must contribute to unsafe digital space. The opposite is also correct. Cyber and digital spaces, tools, or devices featured, used, or employed to perform violence against women and girls (VAWG) contribute to an unsafe society. All innovative digital tools and technologies can be a tool of violence.

3. Women are more likely to face violence and abuse but less likely to report it

Reporting inappropriate behavior or misinformation or disinformation is highly influenced by contextual, social, cultural, and demographic factors in our societies. Women are more expected to face the culture or tendency for retaliation than men. Women especially at a young age place huge importance on confidentiality and anti-retaliation provisions in their decisions to blow the whistle.

4. Civil and digital rights continue to fail women in the Arab world.

In Arab countries, women are treated as second-class citizens and/or unequal before the law, and they are less protected by civil rights. Moreover, if the project, mission, or program we are part of relies on digital spaces, these must be treated as if physical and real, as social and cultural factors will likely hinder women’s presence and participation. In other words, safeguarding policies and protection measures must also be designed with gendered differences into consideration or at least to respond to gender gaps in the policy domains. 

Protection and safe inclusion measures start from the stages of policy design. The definition and recognition of gender-based cyber violence is the foundational first step. In national policies, definitions are based on legal definitions; we must name the crime in order to criminalise it. A number of Arab countries made changes or adaptions to Penal Codes and legislation around sexual harassment and domestic violence to incriminate online VAWG. While these vary from state to state, a few examples were reported[3] as progressive and positive. In Tunisia, for example, the Law 58 of 2017 clearly mentions different types of VAWG such as physical, moral, sexual, or economic harm against women in the private or public sphere. Legalisation in Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia criminalises explicitly online violence and penalises harassment, while in Jordan, the word and legal definition of ‘harassment’ is yet a debatable issue.

There is of course more for us to learn about the cyber space as it continues to rapidly develop, but the above-mentioned list of considerations could help policy design and practitioners to reduce and prevent any cyber harm including GBV [4]. The cyber space must help women utilize technology and the internet to advance their lives and careers instead of burdening them. They indeed facilitate and create lots of opportunities and potential for many women. It is also true that Arab women and human rights defenders continue to use Internet-based socializing and communication techniques to create, mobilize and operate activism for rights. The mission is to support and Do No Harm.

About the Author: 

Besan is a MAAS candidate in Georgetown University, DC. She has 10 years of professional experience in research and development across different fields: cultural anthropology, journalism, and human rights. Her research is mainly focused on the globalization and gender studies working with ethnographic research methods and feminist theories. Besan has worked and consulted for a number of regional and international organizations. She holds a master’s degree in Literature and Criticism and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature.

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