sexual rights

We can no longer ignore the pervasive datafication of our lives - the ways in which our habits, illness, abilities, relations are abstracted, and our bodies made into data by an intersecting range of institutions and processes. In this article, the gendered, sexualised and racialised nature of surveillance is unpacked, so we maintain a focus on the power relations involved. Surveillance…

Asexuality is often dismissed as experience or identity, even by those within the medical community. However in recent times the internet has played a valuable role in both affirming the choices of those who identify as asexual, and in building networks of support and conversation. Given that it is still very difficult to speak openly about any sexuality in most physical spaces in India, the…

The Internet Governance Forum has been valuable as a multistakeholder space that facilitates the discussion and dialogue of public policy issues pertaining to the Internet. Over the years several feminists, activists and others interested in diverse representation have been participating in IGF and observing how concerns related to gender, sexuality, and the internet are raised and addressed.…

The GISWatch report 2016 looks at the link between economic, social, cultural (ESC) rights and the internet in several countries, and from a multitude of systems of governance, whether that of socialism and the welfare state, or the semi-functional welfare schemes in parts of Asia and Africa (Uganda, Cambodia), and even the relatively privileged parts of the world, like Spain. Here is a synthesis…

What are the relationships and interdependencies influencing the promises of being online: voice, visibility, and power? This ARROW for Change (AFC) issue on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and the internet documents some of these dynamics.

In this interview, Allana Kembabazi of Initiative Social And Economic Rights in Uganda, talks about the role of the internet in advocacy and campaigns about high rates of maternal mortality in Uganda and sexual and reproductive rights. In a context where health care is far from sufficient, the internet also becomes an avenue for provision of sexual and reproductive health related information that…

In this set of interviews, Smita Vanniyar speaks to Japleen Pasricha of Feminism in India, and Divya Rajgopal of WhyHate. In separate ways, both these are projects of passion that find ways to reclaim technology for women and also others marginalised on account of gender non-conformity, sexuality, caste, religion and class. They discuss the pros and cons of anonymity, how to address online VAW…

Facebook's arbitrary policy on women's nipples has angered many, who find their content removed or accounts suspended or banned. Japleen Pasricha writes about being repeatedly 'punished' by Facebook for posting content on the social media platform that is feminist and bold, about young women growing up and even images of protest by women in Manipur against the oppression of the Indian army and…

This reading list provides an overview of recent books, articles and sources across the internet for those interested in learning more about how race, gender, and sexuality relate to surveillance. Far from comprehensive, it offers a starting point to explore how an intersectional lens and feminist attention to state, corporate, and peer surveillance practices and their differential effects on…

The fact that the Internet allows women to be anonymous has greatly aided in increased freedom of expression as well as in combating sexual discrimination, violence as well as domestic abuse. Even with the points in favour of right to anonymity being far and wide, it is not seen as a priority in many countries. Human rights activists and the civil society are only beginning to acknowledge that…