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Cyberviolence against Women

Détails pratiques

  Speakers

  • Johanna NELLES, Council of Europe, Head of Violence against Women Division, Executive Secretary of the Istanbul Convention monitoring mechanism (GREVIO and Committee of the Parties) 
  • Carolina LASEN DIAZ, Council of Europe, Gender Equality Division
  • Lela AKIASHVILI, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Georgia on Human Rights and Gender Equality – Social aspects of Cyberviolence Against Women - intersections with the Istanbul Convention
  • Artur DEGTEARIOV, Head of Section on Investigations of Child Pornography Crimes, Directorate on Cybercrime, National Inspectorate of Investigations, Republic of Moldova 
  • Valentyna OSADCHA, Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Deputy Head of Department of Relations with Civil Society Institutions – Cyberviolence against Women as Violation of Human Rights
  • Valentyna LUKIANETS, National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Assistant Rector for Gender Issues of the Analytical Work and Management Organization Department – Online Abuse and Harassment: Gendered Violence

  Moderator

  • Giorgi JOKHADZE, Project Manager, Cybercrime Programme Office, Council of Europe (C-PROC)

 Date and time

  • Thursday, 12 November 2020 | 12:00 PM CET

 Duration 

  • 1h30' (55' presentations and dedicated questions + 35' general discussions)

 Outline

 Audience

  • Particularly useful for officials and policy makers responsible for cybercrime and cybersecurity, as well as violence against women and domestic violence, criminal justice authorities (judges, prosecutors, law enforcement agencies), non-governmental organisations and researchers/academia with an interest in the subject.
  • This activity of the CyberEast project is open for participation to other beneficiary countries in different regions covered by the C-PROC.

  Language: English only

  This webinar is organized in the framework of joint European Union and Council of Europe CyberEast project aiming to support cyber resilience of the Eastern Partnership countries, together with Council of Europe's Violence against Women Division and the Gender Equality Division.

details

Background

As proposed in the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention Committee (T-CY) Mapping study on cyberviolence: “Cyberviolence is the use of computer systems to cause, facilitate, or threaten violence against individuals that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering and may include the exploitation of the individual’s circumstances, characteristics or vulnerabilities.” 

This definition, although still being a work on progress, suggests an extreme breadth of topics that are covered by the concept of cyberviolence.  The webinar will discuss how some of these forms of violence affect women and girls in their daily lives. It will showcase legal instruments, binding and non-binding, that specifically address some of the manifestations of cyberviolence against women. These are the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) and the Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on preventing and combating sexism. 

However, it is equally important to treat cyberviolence as an area of cooperation between various actors and initiatives for ensuring safer online environment for everyone. This presents multiple opportunities for cyberviolence to serve as an “integration” concept between various related themes: cybercrime and criminal justice response in general, the preventative measures and criminal law definitions provided by the Istanbul Convention for different forms of violence which may also take place in an online environment and, last but not least,  specific powers and procedures for electronic evidence offered by the Budapest Convention, could be among possible avenues for such cooperation. 

Moreover, in times of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and continuing restrictions that increase reliance on the Internet, cyberviolence (in general) and cyberviolence against women and girls (in particular) may be even more pervasive than before, calling for more coherent and coordinated approach between governments, the private sector and the civil society.

Objectives

The purpose of this webinar is to discuss in depth cyberviolence against women and girls from the perspective of relevant topics that are inherently connected to the use of information and communications technology, and to incentivise countries in the EAP to ratify the Istanbul Convention. The webinar is designed to encourage an interactive participation, and to facilitate information-sharing among participants, exchanging relevant experiences and good practices, and discussing challenges and opportunities.

Expected outcomes

  • Present relevant Council of Europe international standards on gender equality and violence against women;
  • Identify and discuss different forms of cyberviolence against women and girls;
  • Discuss roles and responsibilities of various institutions and actors, including law enforcement, in deterring and handling of these threats;
  • Present good practices in dealing with various forms of cyberviolence.

Resources