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MONTEVIDEO 31 August 2010 (APCNews)

APC staff and members will be in Vilnius, Lithuania, for the fifth meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. We’ll be running two workshops and hosting a pre-event on human rights. Here’s a quick review of our activities. We’ll be providing on-site coverage for those of you following the IGF remotely.

NEW YORK 23 August 2010 (Mavic Cabrera-Balleza for GenderIT.org)

APC´s gender and ICT policy site GenderIT.org speaks with Sylvie Niombo and Françoise Mukuku, ICT activists from the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They discuss the internet, mobile phones and how they are being used in their countries to reduce incidence of violence against women and how conversely they aggravate violence and lead to violation of privacy laws. They also explain why access to ICTs is critical for the achievement of the third Millennium Development Goal on women´s empowerment. Photo: Françoise Mkuku helps a friend with bluetooth

CALGARY 23 August 2010 (LC for APCNews)

After regional IGF processes in the US, UK and Kenya have demonstrated that national discussions can have an impact at the global level on issues such as child pornography and internet security, West Africa will host its first regional IGF from August 23 to 25 in Dakar Senegal, in part thanks to APC. The space for policy dialogue on Internet Governance will allow for issues that are particular to West Africa to be discussed by the different stakeholders.

MONTREAL 23 August 2010 (CL for APCNews)

Attempts to get human rights on the internet onto the agenda at the Fifth Internet Governance Forum –the UN conference now in its possibly final edition— which is to take place in September foundered in the face of government resistance. And the IGF agenda for 2010 will focus on development and internet governance. However Vilnius will be the scenario to shape a debate on censorship, freedom of expression and privacy that has been clamouring for attention. APC and partners will hold a discussion on internet governance and human rights immediately before the IGF in Vilnius, Lithuania on September 13.

BUENOS AIRES 23 August 2010 (Florencia Goldsman with Flavia Fascendini for GenderIT.org)

A recent consultation held by APC in Buenos Aires found that cell phones are becoming increasingly regarded as a way for men to harrass and monitor their wives and girlfriends. While a number of laws protecting women’s rights have just been passed, they are yet to be tested in court. This GenderIT.org article looks at the current legislation regarding violence and technology, the gaps that exist and what grass-roots organisations are advocating for. Photo: APC WNSP

JOHANNESBURG 23 August 2010 (Esther Nasikye and Sally-Jean Shackleton for GenderIT.org)

While women’s rights activists have been at the forefront of making the private crimes that occur at home – domestic violence, marital rape – public, new technologies are making the private public in ways that disenfranchise, alienate and violate women. Esther Nasikye and Sally-Jean Shackleton explore how ICTs, privacy and domestic violence in South Africa are exposing problems in both policy and practice. Photo: John Atherton

MONTEVIDEO 17 August 2010 (APC for APC)

Just as women are disproportionately the victims of violence worldwide, the situation is just as bad online. The UN estimates that 95% of aggressive behaviour, harassment, abusive language and denigrating images in online spaces are aimed at women and come from partners or former male partners. Other surveys show that the victims of cyberstalking are predominantly female. As part of our Take Back the Tech! to end violence against women project, APC and partners have carried out studies of the current situation of violence against women and ICTs in twelve countries and how the legislation or lack of legislation connected to both hinders or helps women. Photo by John Fraissinet

MONTEVIDEO 9 August 2010 (AL for APCNews)

On an improvised stage, locals act out a play about an African-Colombian girl who feels rejected because of the colour of her skin. It’s part of a community gathering to highlight violence against women in a small sugar-plantation town a few miles from Cali. For eight months, men and women of all ages attended workshops on gender and technology as part of piloted trials of the Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) in 24 government-sponsored telecentres. GEM exposed not only the stereotypes and prejudice women must face, but also the strengths that lie within women who least expected it. As a result, the entire community has come together.

CALGARY 9 August 2010 (LC for APCNews)

Since South Korea’s conservative president was sworn in in 2008, administrative control on internet content has been getting progressively tighter in South Korea, a country with the second most connected population on Earth. Progressive groups criticise the government’s “three cyber evils”: the cyber insult law, the internet “real name” system and deep packet inspection to monitor and control internet communication.