The 7th Internet Governance Forum in Baku drew to a close two weeks ago. Avri Doria in her introduction to this edition discusses several breakthroughs made by this the world’s most important internet governance encounter. For the first time the forum has openly discussed human rights on the internet, and has not been silent on the autocracy and abuse of basic freedoms in the host country. Also for the first time in the IGF history, women’s rights have been brought to the main stage. However, gender aspects of human rights on the internet, such as the serious abuses women face because of what they say online, are still absent in the debates. Read reflections of GenderIT.org’s partners and writers about their experiences at the IGF.



Photo: Valentina Pellizzer, member of OneWorld Platform for Southeast Europe Foundation (OWPSEE) from Bosnia-Herzegovina, during her speech at the closing ceremony of the 2012 IGF. Original photo by Shawna Finnegan, APC.

Women at the IGF: Now we need to mainstream gender

sonia
This year's Internet Governance Forum came to a close in Baku, Azerbaijan on 16 November. GenderIT.org contributor Sonia Randhawa spoke to three women about their experiences at the IGF, and whether any progress is being made in terms of the representation of women, and the prominence of women's rights and gender as cross-cutting issues for internet goverance. Jac sm Kee is from Malaysia and represented the APC Women's Rights Programme; GenderIT.org editor Katerina Fialova is from the Czech Republic; and Bosnian Valentina Pellizzer is executive director of OneWorld SouthEast Europe.

IGF 2012: Day two in room four

kaca
What I most value about the IGF is that thanks to its multi-stakeholder principle, it widens my perspective on pressing internet governance issues. However, all three sessions I attended on day two in room number four, while talking about human rights, failed to include women's right perspective. Women internet users are important stakeholder and it is evident that even after six years of existence IGF still fails to engage them in equal footing with other stakeholders.

Women's take on internet governance: A selection of tweets from IGF 2012

flavia
This is a selection of the tweets circulated during the Internet Governance Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 6-9 2012. They were selected following the criteria of its relevance in reflecting the discussions around women’s role in internet governance processes, as well as women’s and internet rights during the IGF.

Interview with Arzu Geybullayeva on the internet rights of women in Azerbaijan

Nighat

Nighat Dad from "Digital Rights Foundation, Pakistan":http://www.digitalrightsfoundation.pk speaks to Arzu Geybullayeva, a regional analyst and a blogger from Azerbaijan. Arzu's areas of interest are regional politics, conflict resolution, and new social media. In their "feminist talk” Nighat asks Arzu about her impressions of the 7th Internet Governance Forum, that took place in Baku, and key internet rights issues faced by women in Azerbaijan.

Multistakeholderism and Enhanced Cooperation: What's it all about?

jac
Multistakeholder participation and enhanced cooperation seems to be one of the major issue in this year's Internet Governance Forum (IGF). With World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) around the corner and the anxious buzz of whether this is a bid by governments to have more control over the internet through the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) and International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the proposals for new governing bodies like CIRP and the discussions on “enhanced cooperation” by the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) in May earlier this year – maybe not surprising.

Autocracy 2.0 at the Internet Governance Forum

hvale
This is my first IGF, I have sneaked into the arena of Internet Governance during the WSIS. At that time I decided to retire and be a distant witness. This year I am here, listening, learning, observing and exercising my right to express my visions, my active feminist citizenship - which was censored today (7th Nov.) in the workshop 89 room 8 by the “aggressively moderate” Robert Guerra.

Censorship walks, a feminist view of the Internet Governance Forum

hvale
A big hangar, with a constant voice asking people to wear headphones and talk to each other through the microphones, an internet network that does not allow participants to be online simultaneously, with an average of only one person out of three being able to access full online services and the other two struggling with their different devices to reach out, comment and communicate what is happening and what should not have happened.

Again, representation not reflecting participation

Yara
Attending the IGF for the first time came with no expectations, however it is difficult to ignore the usual disparity that I face everyday in Egypt, and in many other countries when I travel. No one can say that the number of women participating in the IGF 2012 is low, in fact women are very much present representing the different stakeholders; governments, private companies, and civil society representatives. So if the opening session of IGF had only two women speakers – which one of them was representing another man?
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