by Noah Camuso
A 2020 UNESCO study on online violence against women journalists reported that 73% of women respondents said they had experienced online violence. Nearly a third (30%) of respondents said that they reacted to online violence by self-censoring on social media, while 20% said they avoid all interaction online, and 18% said they specifically avoided engaging with audiences.
To help address this, international free speech rapporteurs launched the 2022 Joint Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Gender Justice on May 3rd, World Press Freedom Day. The Joint Declaration highlights systemic gender inequalities and provides recommendations to states, private companies, media outlets, and the general public that promote gender justice.
At a panel during the World Press Freedom Day Conference, this year hosted in Uruguay, freedom of expression mandate holders spoke about the connection between the role freedom of expression plays in promoting gender equality, and the unique risks female journalists, politicians, and human rights defenders face on and offline.
“The [joint declarations] often enter into standard-setting areas which other actors, courts, and other authoritative decision-makers don’t go into,” said Toby Mendel, the Executive Director of the Canadian-based international NGO the Centre for Law and Democracy. “We see courts, other decision-makers, academics, and civil society organizations relying repeatedly on these as kind of the only leading statements in those areas.”
Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, emphasized that private companies such as social media platforms have an obligation to ensure that online spaces are safe for women.
“Online violence becomes a very powerful means of silencing women,” Khan said. “Women who are powerful journalists, politicians, human rights activists, are sometimes forced to go offline, and in today’s world, going offline means you are silenced.”
The declaration recommends that social media platforms improve transparency and content governance, provide users with safety tools and make it easier for users to report online violence.
Joint Declarations have been adopted annually by the free speech rapporteurs since 1999. Each declaration focuses on a unique current global challenge related to freedom of expression. Topics covered in previous years include politicians and public officials, elections in the digital age and “challenges to freedom of expression in the next decade.”