Safe and Equal Online Spaces – a Pacific cyber safety symposium
Tuesday, 12 September 2023, Suva, Fiji
The Honourable Lynda Tabuya, Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection of Fiji
Ambassador Stephanie Copus Campbell, Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality
The Director-General of the Pacific Community
Women Leaders of the Pacific
Distinguished representatives of SPC member governments, Civil Society, Non-State Actors and Development Partners
Event Conveners and Collaborators
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a privilege and honour to provide the keynote address for this first Pacific symposium on ‘Safe and Equal Online Spaces’ to address online safety, in particular technology-facilitated gender-based violence in a Pacific context.
Our Blue Pacific region has made important efforts to advocate for and support gender equality. There are committed efforts to ensure that all women and girls across the Pacific have the right to safety and health, and unimpeded access to political, social and economic opportunities and resources. This includes improved access to technology for women and men, girls and boys, as we move towards more meaningful and inclusive connectivity within our respective countries, and across the Pacific region.
We continue to work to remove barriers to address the digital divide that exists within society. These include efforts to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas, between the young and the elderly, between the able and those with disabilities, our communities and between different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Technology, an enabler of opportunities, can also cause harm when used by people to perpetrate technology-facilitated gender-based violence – or TFGBV. I reflect on the words shared earlier by Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality, Stephanie Copus Campbell, that technology can be a “vector for harm” but at the same time “innovation and technological change can contribute to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.” If we take action to address online harms, as one Blue Pacific, technology can empower us and be a part of the solution to better address technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
That is why we are here today. This Pacific cyber safety symposium will allow us to share experiences, exchange ideas and identify priorities to prevent and respond to gender-based violence perpetrated within online spaces and through digital technologies. This is an increasingly serious issue facing our Blue Pacific region today as access to and use of digital technologies continues to grow in our region. I am pleased therefore that we have begun to establish opportunities to discuss and pave the way forward towards a better understanding of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, including in a Pacific context.
The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with ongoing impacts of climate change challenged us to explore new ways of doing business. Increased demand and use of ICT products and services enabled us to respond to these challenges and to develop strategies and mechanisms to ensure that our economies and communities are not further marginalised. Equipped with lessons learned, and with the continued support of our regional organisations and development partners, we must take advantage of the advance scientific knowledge and superior technology available to us to inform how we move forward and to continue to build back better post-COVID19.
By harnessing the power of technology, we can open up new opportunities to become more self-sufficient and maximise our potential for growth. With the right technology in place, we can become more resilient to climate change and natural disasters, reduce poverty, create jobs and improve access to health care, education and other essential services. These are how we can make positive strides towards reaching our development goals and better prepare ourselves for the future.
[Addressing GBV and TFGBV]
It is important that we meaningfully use the “priorities” documented from this symposium. We should listen carefully to the “lived realities” shared by women and girls, by diverse people of all backgrounds, and by young people. These form the basis of important data to inform more robust work and research needed on technology-facilitated gender-based violence. I want to acknowledge the presence of all the young ladies and girls in the room and to thank them for sharing the collective experiences of your young friends and family at home.
With all the good that technology can bring into our lives, technology is also exacerbating our region’s already high rates of gender-based violence. About two in every three women in many Pacific Island countries experience intimate partner violence. Before I go further, I wish to reiterate at this juncture three important facts:
- women and girls remain disproportionately affected by gender-based violence and technology-facilitated gender-based violence – this is primarily about men perpetrating violence against women;
- the root cause of gender-based violence is gender inequality – women and men not sharing equal access to services and opportunities. If we improve gender equality then we can reduce gender-based violence, improve peaceful homes and communities, and drive sustainable development and growth; and
- gender equality is not just about women – it is about men and women and boys and girls of all diversities working together to address these issues.
[Digital literacy and education to address TFGBV]
Across our Blue Pacific region, on-going concerted efforts are made to educate people about gender-based violence, and to promote our cultural values of peace and protection of the family. Quite simply, family violence and gender-based violence is not okay. It is not part of our culture either. And just as we need to continuously educate people about gender-based violence, we now also need to make people aware of technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
Central to technology-facilitated gender-based violence is the use of internet-based technology, such as social media. Alongside awareness programmes, digital literacy programmes should continue to be developed and implemented at all levels of education as well as in the workplace. This will enable people to recognise inappropriate or illegal behaviour and when and how to report technology-facilitated gender-based violence. It is critical that regulators and law enforcement agencies know how to deal with perpetrators of technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Whether gender-based violence is perpetrated in-person or online, it is still violence and it needs to be addressed.
Effective online education also relies on affordable access to technology and sound investment in digital infrastructure. This ought to be balanced with the promotion of smart and safe use of technology.
[Closing]
I wish to acknowledge and thank the Pacific Community and Australia’s eSafety Commissioner for organising this symposium. I also wish to reiterate our appreciation to the Government of Australia for its commitment to regional gender equality through the Pacific Women Lead programme including financial support of AUD$170 million over 5 years.
I am also pleased to hear about this event’s important collaboration between our CROP agencies, SPC, the University of the South Pacific and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. This follows the important CROP work led by the Forum Secretariat earlier this month in hosting the Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders Meeting.
Stopping gender-based violence starts with believing survivors. Addressing the root causes of gender-based violence requires comprehensive and inclusive approaches that can transform harmful social norms, and empower women and girls. The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent will provide us with that opportunity, guided by our Blue Pacific narrative.
To improve the lives and livelihoods of our people, as well as Pacific economies, we need to work together – as women and men equally and together in our communities. Change for the better requires wide community engagement, women and girls included. After all, women and girls play a vital role as agents of change for sustainable economic development.
I wish you all the best with this symposium.
Thank you.
[ENDS]
