The report produced by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences from May 2015 contains the findings following her visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 31 March to 15 April 2014.
It examines the situation of violence against women in the country taking into account its causes and consequences and its implications for the effective exercise and enjoyment of all human rights by women. It also discusses the State’s responses, through an analysis of the obligation to act with due diligence, to prevent such violence, to protect and provide remedies to women who have been subjected to violence, and to prosecute and punish the perpetrators.
The report flags technology-related violence as one of the ways in which VAW manifests, pointing specially to online harmful behaviours such as humiliation, harassment, intimidation and “sexting”. The fragments where the Rapporteur mentiones tecnology-related violence against women are the following:
“25. Regarding internet violence, a recent study found that many women and girls had been exposed to harmful behaviours online, including humiliation, harassment, intimidation and “sexting” as a form of bullying. Furthermore, interviewees stated that boyfriends commonly published, and/or threatened to publish, photographs of consensual sexual activity to harass and manipulate women and even force them to engage in sexual activity with the boyfriend and/or their friends.”
“23. As regards sexual harassment, it was reported that 42 per cent of young women in London aged between 18 and 34 experienced unwanted sexual attention in 2013. Girls aged between 16 and 18 are reportedly at the highest risk of sexual assault, while women aged between 18 and 29 are at greatest risk of threatening and offensive advances on the internet.”
The addendum report can be found here
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