Sabine Beck, Netpeace: Talking about peace in the internet and on social media, means talking about how to get rid of hate and harassment – especially concerning female victims

Women make up half of the earth’s population. Women have been and still are a strong driving force and engine to bring about social change. The women’s movements of the past 150 years have been instrumental in transforming society, such as enforcing women’s suffrage.

Restrictive movements and right-wing populists are attacking women, not only because it is obvious that progressive ideas and demands are usually initiated by feminists. Women’s rights are human rights – therefore both are high on the agenda to fight against of the new right.

Online violence against women is not only easy to accomplish and relatively safe to perform, but also effective: someone who attacks women, intimidates not only the affected individual, but also the many who are online witnessing the attack.

The result is simple and easy to foresee: women fall silent and withdraw from public discussions. Aggressive men take over and determine the discourse, followed by a shift in public perception and political sentiment. A recent study by Amnesty International shows that women who experience online hate or abuse, also feel threatened physically, fear for their live and families and are less likely to speak out on other occasions.

So we must discuss actions and strategies how to defend women´s rights in online spaces to defend democracy.

Sabine Beck, speaker of the Netpeace initiative at Greenpeace will provide a brief overview followed by a discussion.