Gender

2020 was expected to be the feminist super year - the anniversaries of the UN Resolution on "Women, Peace, and Security" and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were supposed to be celebrated, and discussions about the lack of their implementation to be held. Instead, this became the year that, according to UN Women, would destroy 25 years of feminist achievements.

Gendered disinformation is a form of identity-based disinformation that threatens human rights worldwide. It undermines the digital and political rights, as well as the safety and security, of its targets. Ellen Judson from Demos explains what gendered disinformation is, how it impacts individuals and societies, and the challenges in combating it, drawing on case studies from Poland and the UK. It assesses how the UK and EU are responding to gendered disinformation, and sets out a plan of action for governments, platforms, media and civil society.

The increasing data-driven nature of societies raises concerns about how to prevent data misuse and abuse that may harm individuals and communities, particularly marginalized groups. A feminist critique of the model law on data protection of the Southern African Development Community and the EU’s GDPR, however highlights the dangerous gaps that place women and gender-diverse people at risk.

In this time of triple crises, with intersecting impacts from the pandemic, the climate emergency, and persistent economic inequality, the global community and its leaders face a “Kairos moment” – a turning point at a critical time for action. The choice is whether to continue with failed policies that have brought the world to this perilous juncture or to retool global economies and systems. Imaginative and transformative approaches could address climate change and other environmental, health, and social threats, based on equity and justice, including gender-equitable access to sustainable finance.

Hungary voted for a bill originally intended to enhance the protection of children and tighten sanctions against pedophile offenders, though introducing an explicit, harsh ban on the "portrayal and the promotion of gender identity different from sex at birth, the change of sex and homosexuality" for persons under the age of 18. What led to the scapegoating of the LGBTQI community?

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Washington, DC offices hosted a transatlantic online discussion that addressed discrimination of LGBTIQA+ and racial groups through content moderation. Amid the EU discussion on the draft Digital Services Act (DSA) and of the US debate on reforming Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act, the event presented the e-papers "The state of content moderation for the LGBTIQA+ community and the role of the EU Digital Services Act" by Christina Dinar, and "Algorithmic misogynoir in content moderation practice" by Brandeis Marshall.

Systematic and systemic attacks on Gender Studies are part of anti-gender campaigns and online public harassment, associated with the anti-gender movement, a nationalist, neoconservative response to the triple crisis (migration, financial and security). These illiberal attacks are gaining much support all over Europe.

In the middle of the night on March 20, 2021, a presidential decree was published in the Official Gazette, announcing Turkey would withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention.

Mobility is not gender neutral. This not only pertains to individual mobility, but also to the transport and planning sectors themselves, which are heavily dominated by men. Social stereotypes and role distribution within a predominantly male workforce, as well as care work mostly carried out by females, do the rest to create an environment that is aligned with male needs.