E-Safety Commissioner Australia
Date of Meeting: 16 March 2021
Meeting Organizer: E-Safety Commissioner Australia
ISJC Staff Present: Captain Sandra Pawar
Reporter: Captain Sandra Pawar
Which SDG does this topic cover? SDG 3, SDG 5, SDG 16
Type of meeting: Commission on the Status of Women Side Event
Brief summary of presentation of information made
Main speaker: Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is Australia’s eSafety Commissioner and leads Australia’s national independent regulator for online safety. This is the the world’s first government agency solely dedicated to keeping its citizens safer online.
The "CSW65 side event - eSafety Commissioner, Australia" focussed on promoting women’s participation in public life and decision-making and Australia’s world-leading eSafety model for addressing gendered-based violence online.
In this session, Commissioner Inman Grant dived deeply into the eSafety Women’s programme - a world-leading model for empowering women online that can be leveraged to help achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. She outlined eSafety’s holistic approach to online safety focused on Protection, Prevention and Proactive Change and how this model can be applied across contexts.
This session also provided practical tips and advice on building online safety and digital skills to bolster women’s participation in public life and decision-making.
The following categories were discussed:
- Being social
- Connecting safely
- Domestic and family violence
- Life admin
- Online abuse targeting women
- Using your device safely
Some statistics from Australia that were presented:
- Three in 10 women (30%) surveyed said that they had experienced online abuse or harassment.
- Nearly half (47%) of those who said they had experienced online abuse were aged 18 to 24.
- 37% of women who had experienced online abuse or harassment said that on at least one occasion, these online experiences made them feel that their physical safety was threatened.
- Women are more likely than men to fear for their safety due to image-based abuse.
- Women (39%) were more likely than men (30%) to be victimised by an intimate partner or ex-partner.
- Two-fifths (42%) of women responding to the survey who had experienced online abuse or harassment said it was misogynistic or sexist in nature, and a fifth (20%) said it had included threats of physical or sexual violence.
- More than one in 10 (11%) of women responding to the survey who had experienced abuse or harassment online said personal or identifying details of them had been shared online (also known as ‘doxing’).
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased online harassment and they are calling all violence that has been perpetrated against women during this season as the shadow pandemic. We cannot stand by and allow violence against women to continue (whether online or in person)
What was of particular significance to share with The Salvation Army globally?
We live in a world where globally women are experiencing abuse and harassment not only in person but now online and we as The Salvation Army have an opportunity to educate, to protect and prevent that from happening to our women.
The Salvation Army can
- ensure that their online platforms are safe places for women and that they promote and empower women.
- educate women and young girls on how to use online platforms safely
- educate young boys and men on how to treat young girls and women with respect.
- hold people in our congregations and communities accountable when they engage in behaviour that is inappropriate or perpetrating violence against others
- ensure that conversations are being held at the highest levels about violence against women and young girls and always make it a priority to address this issue.
Too often we let what happens behind closed doors stay behind closed doors. We need to bring it out into the open and address it.