Online violence against women and girls discussed at IT Girls and OSCE event in Sarajevo

As part of the #16Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the IT Girls, joint initiative by UN Women, UNICEF and UNDP, supported by Sweden, and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) joined forces to raise awareness about gender-based violence against women and girls in cyberspace at an event held on 9 December 2019 in Sarajevo.

The event shed light on some of the elements of this form of violence and how victims can recognize, eliminate, and protect themselves when it occurs.

"UN Women is marking the 16 days of activism campaign this year by highlighting the necessity of prevention of violence against women and girls,” said David Saunders, UN Women Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Online violence is becoming an increasingly present issue. A type of violence that is widely discussed and is drastically under-regulated in legislation. It is crucial that the digital space becomes a safe and empowering place for everyone, including women and girls, so that no girl or woman has to fend for herself when it comes to online violence, in social media and in cyberspace."

A panel, featuring experts in online violence against women and girls, privacy on the internet and criminology related to online harassment, discussed ways to raise awareness and combat harassment in the general public on this issue.

Željka Šulc, Spokesperson of the OSCE Mission to BiH, said that protection and promotion of basic women’s human rights and prohibition of gender-based violence against women and girls are principles enshrined and recognized in international human rights law. “These principles have been are developed through extensive international and regional conventions, jurisprudence and norms, and all social actors have affirmative obligations to secure that fundamental human rights are respected, promoted, and realized both offline and online. The OSCE Mission to BiH will continue working on different cases of violence against women and girls and domestic violence across different jurisdictions in the country,” said Šulc.

The panellists and participants concluded that further discussion and awareness-raising on recognizing, eliminating, and preventing cases of online violence against women and girls is needed at all levels.