Making the internet safer for women and girls: The Youth Action to End Online Gender-Based Violence
UN Women and the 30 for 2030 Youth Network created the “Youth Guide to End Online Gender-Based Violence (OGBV).” In Asia-Pacific, 88% of women have experienced OGBV, this toolkit enables action from youth to address and prevent OGBV in response to the high prevalence of online violence in this region.
In just under five months, there has been a total of 854 unique downloads. Additionally, UNICEF Indonesia had requested the toolkit be a resource in their U-Report which is a communication tool to ensure young people are always informed and can participate. Additionally, assets and resources in the toolkit were requested by the Ministry for Women, a government department in New Zealand, for their International Women's Day campaign in March 2023. Youth members, including the 30 for 2030 Network, have been using the toolkit as a resource in their own teachings, for example, when teaching girls and women on the ground with their organizations, such as Baithak and The Gender Security Project. The 30 for 2030 Network has used the toolkit to influence further campaigns; the WhatsApp scripts section highlights what Online Gender-Based Violence is and how to recognize it. Finally, an Online Symposium is taking place in August 2023 to launch the second edition of the toolkit with The Center of Excellence. The intention for the toolkit has been to update it annually to reflect current times and tech.
Read more:
Story: Making the internet safer for women and girls: The Youth Guide to End Online Gender-Based Violence
Resource: Toolkit: Youth Guide to End Online Gender-Based Violence
From Knowledge to Action: Ending female genital mutilation in Somalia
At least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. Somalia is a country where FGM is widespread, with 99 per cent of women having been cut. UN Women Somalia works with its partners to eliminate this practice through awareness raising, community discussions and engaging religious leaders to change social norms cultivating this harmful practice.
Kaafiyo Abdi Farah, 55, was only 7 years old, when she underwent female genital mutilation. She remembers this as the most painful experience she has ever had. Like many women in Somalia, Kaafiyo’s cut was Type III, infibulation, narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner or outer labia, with or without removal of the clitoris. Read more >
Changing social norms to end violence against women and girls in Kyrgyzstan
“This is our new family business. Each loaf of bread is made with lots of love because each of us contributes to making it delicious,” enthuses 38-year-old Gulnaz Almambet Kyzy, a new business owner who received Spotlight Initiative-supported gender equality training implemented by UN Women in Kyrgyzstan.
Based on the Gender Action Learning System (GALS), the training aims to reduce violence by talking with communities about the power dynamics in their homes.
According to a 2012 country survey, 50 per cent of men and 34 per cent of women believe that a husband is justified in hitting his wife in certain situations. Further, 27 per cent of women and girls aged 15-49 years old who are married or have ever been married reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by a spouse or partner. Read more >
Masculinidades en Movimiento: Ecuador avanza hacia la igualdad y la corresponsabilidad
En todo el mundo se desarrollan diferentes iniciativas que buscan garantizar que las familias sean espacios seguros, en los que se eliminen todas las formas de violencia basada en género y en los que se transformen los estereotipos construidos alrededor de la división sexual del trabajo. Además, fomentando la corresponsabilidad en los cuidados y el trabajo no remunerado del hogar, que hasta la fecha reposa mayormente sobre los hombros de las mujeres. Leer más >
Celebrating Father’s Day in Arab States region: A Palestinian dad tells the journey of his change towards engaged fatherhood and gender equality
As a young father from the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip in Gaza, Muhammad Kaddass used to live adhering to conventional gender roles, namely working, providing for his family, and trying to be a good husband the way he knew how. Being a family man never meant for him that he would do domestic work or participate more actively in the upbringing of his children. Roles were clear, he works outside the house and brings in income, and his wife takes care of the children and household responsibilities. Read more >
Asia Pacific: Ending online gender-based violence
UN Women and the 30 for 2030 Youth Network created the “Youth Guide to End Online Gender-Based Violence (OGBV).” In Asia-Pacific, 88% of women have experienced OGBV, this toolkit enables action from youth to address and prevent OGBV in response to the high prevalence of online violence in this region.
In just under five months, there has been a total of 854 unique downloads. Additionally, UNICEF Indonesia had requested the toolkit be a resource in their U-Report which is a communication tool to ensure young people are always informed and can participate. Additionally, assets and resources in the toolkit were requested by the Ministry for Women, a government department in New Zealand, for their International Women's Day campaign in March 2023. Youth members, including the 30 for 2030 Network, have been using the toolkit as a resource in their own teachings, for example, when teaching girls and women on the ground with their organizations, such as Baithak and The Gender Security Project. The 30 for 2030 Network has used the toolkit to influence further campaigns; the WhatsApp scripts section highlights what Online Gender-Based Violence is and how to recognize it. Finally, an Online Symposium is taking place in August 2023 to launch the second edition of the toolkit with The Center of Excellence. The intention for the toolkit has been to update it annually to reflect current times and tech.
Read more:
Story: Making the internet safer for women and girls: The Youth Guide to End Online Gender-Based Violence
Resource: Toolkit: Youth Guide to End Online Gender-Based Violence
Somalia: Ending female genital mutilation
At least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. Somalia is a country where FGM is widespread, with 99 per cent of women having been cut. UN Women Somalia works with its partners to eliminate this practice through awareness raising, community discussions and engaging religious leaders to change social norms cultivating this harmful practice.
Kaafiyo Abdi Farah, 55, was only 7 years old, when she underwent female genital mutilation. She remembers this as the most painful experience she has ever had. Like many women in Somalia, Kaafiyo’s cut was Type III, infibulation, narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner or outer labia, with or without removal of the clitoris. Read more >
Kyrgyzstan: Changing social norms
“This is our new family business. Each loaf of bread is made with lots of love because each of us contributes to making it delicious,” enthuses 38-year-old Gulnaz Almambet Kyzy, a new business owner who received Spotlight Initiative-supported gender equality training implemented by UN Women in Kyrgyzstan.
Based on the Gender Action Learning System (GALS), the training aims to reduce violence by talking with communities about the power dynamics in their homes.
According to a 2012 country survey, 50 per cent of men and 34 per cent of women believe that a husband is justified in hitting his wife in certain situations. Further, 27 per cent of women and girls aged 15-49 years old who are married or have ever been married reported experiencing physical or sexual violence by a spouse or partner. Read more >
Ecuador: Masculinities in Movement
En todo el mundo se desarrollan diferentes iniciativas que buscan garantizar que las familias sean espacios seguros, en los que se eliminen todas las formas de violencia basada en género y en los que se transformen los estereotipos construidos alrededor de la división sexual del trabajo. Además, fomentando la corresponsabilidad en los cuidados y el trabajo no remunerado del hogar, que hasta la fecha reposa mayormente sobre los hombros de las mujeres. Leer más >
Occupied Palestinian Territory: Father's day
As a young father from the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip in Gaza, Muhammad Kaddass used to live adhering to conventional gender roles, namely working, providing for his family, and trying to be a good husband the way he knew how. Being a family man never meant for him that he would do domestic work or participate more actively in the upbringing of his children. Roles were clear, he works outside the house and brings in income, and his wife takes care of the children and household responsibilities. Read more >
Key achievements
During the first year of its Strategic Plan 2022-2025, in collaboration with an expanded set of partners, UN Women worked to safeguard and advance the rights of women and girls across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus and achieved the following early results:
advanced policies to end violence against women and girls, with a strong focus on prevention including addressing harmful social norms
