Africa

Shawna Finnegan and Emilar Vushe, who are the part of the Association for Progressive Communication's policy programme, engage in a conversation about their highlights of this year's Internet Governance Forum (IGF). They speak about the value of the IGF as well as barriers to access it, national and regional initiatives, and some of the biggest internet governance issues right now, such as…

I embarked on my journey to the second African School on Internet Governance with a few readings done and the Wikimedia definition of internet governance memorized. Eager to learn and to contribute the bit I’ve learned over the past few months, little did I know what awaited me.

Women leaders are expressing concerns over the skyrocketing cases of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) globally. The women leaders who congregated at a Nairobi hotel for a two-day policy consultation workshop, also decried what they called ballooning cases of technology-related violence against women.

When I found myself suddenly having to care for and look after my new born child alone, I panicked. I panicked because I had never done this before and the ten minute tutorial on washing and feeding my infant that the nurse gave me at the hospital was lacking in many ways. I had questions, so many questions-but she didn’t have time. I was a woman, as far as she was concerned and therefore I…

This paper gives an analysis of women and men’s differential access and use of the mobile phone and how through it gender stereotypes are reinforced. During a four year study in Zambia, it emerged that although there were clear advantages that have come as a result of mobile phones some negative social impacts which reinforce gender stereotypes and power relations and subsequently result in…

GenderIT.org correspondent Mavic Cabrera-Balleza interviews Yara Sallam, Manager of the Women Human Rights Defenders Program at Nazra for Feminist Studies in Egypt, on the challenging reality for women human rights defenders, how they are affected by measures taken by the government in the name of “national security”, and strategies used to address threats to WHRD's cybersecurity.

The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC) has expressed deep concern regarding the safety of five staff from the Uganda sex worker organization, Women’s Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA). On May 7, police authorities raided WONETHA's small office and arrested two staff and three members. The staff members face ongoing harassment and criminal…

South Africa's constitution guarantees freedom of expression, and has been interpreted to include the right to community media and to creative journalistic content. However, these progressive interpretations come in the light of broadcasting, rather than the internet. Online media and its regulation in South Africa fall short of the human rights standards that South Africa has recognised under…

In South Africa a video recently went viral in which a young woman is gang-raped. This video has re-ignited discussions around gender-based violence within the country, many of these discussions have taken place on social media platforms such as Twitter.

This joint submission from APC, CALS, CIVICUS, Gender Links, Highway Africa Chair in Media and Information Society, IDASA, ODAC, Right 2 Know, SANGONet, Section27, and SERI focuses on freedom of expression, the right to information, freedom from censorship; freedom of the press, the right to privacy, and the importance of affordable access to the internet in South Africa. The submission…