Digital Gender Gaps and Opportunities: Fostering equal participation and ending violence against women in a connected age

In many parts of the world, the digital transformation is generating new opportunities for women’s empowerment through access to knowledge and resources. But at the same time, the digital gender divide and discrimination against women are exacerbating. Discriminatory factors range from unequal access to digital technologies, lack of training or education to barriers for women in digital technology industries. Especially, online and technology‐facilitated violence constitute a systematic threat, which has spread during Covid‐19 and the “shadow pandemic” of violence against women and girls. Bringing together representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society, this side event presents strategies to achieve women's equal digital participation and to end online violence against women. It draws upon promising research and policies across Europe and explores the added value of the Council of Europe’s legal instruments: the Istanbul Convention and the Recommendation on preventing and combating sexism. Protecting women’s rights, including in the digital sphere, is also an important issue for Germany’s current Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.

Prof. Dr. Aysel Yollu-Tok, Vorsitzende der Sachverständigenkommission zum Dritten Gleichstellungsbericht, nimmt am Panel des Side Events teil.