Protection of Women's Human Rights in the Digital Age: Opportunities, Challenges and Measures

“Women's rights are human rights.” 30 years ago, this slogan put forward by World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna substantially enriched the subject and connotation of “universal human rights”. It is the common pursuit of all mankind to enjoy human rights. The advent of the digital age has created opportunities, brought challenges, and put forward new requirements for the realization of the ideal.

I. Opportunities to Protect Women's Human Rights in the Digital Age

It is generally believed that digital transformation has provided opportunities for the development of women and girls. Technological innovation represented by digitalization has brought huge scientific dividends; and e-commerce, digital financial and public services have created conditions for the improvement of women's life.

Specifically, the development of digital technology has helped create more jobs for mental workers; and physical and physiological differences no longer constitute obstacles for women to participate in work. Mechanization, automation, and human-computer collaboration have enabled women to obtain more job opportunities. In terms of participation, digital platforms can play a key role by becoming a space where all women can advocate, mobilize, and fully, equally, and effectively participate in public life, and promote decision-making to incorporate the interests, needs, and perspectives of all women and girls, which contributes to the building of a gender-friendly digital environment. The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women also noted that digital technology has the potential to strengthen the birth registration systems, while birth registration is essential for the realization of all human rights, especially the rights to education and social security, and the right to participate in public life.

It can be seen that the advent of the digital age has created new opportunities for gender equality. The development of digital technology is also expected to create a brand new social space that removes the gender barriers.

II. Numerous Challenges to the Realization of Women's Human Rights in the Digital Age

Due to previous governance deficits, digital dividends will not automatically benefit all. On the contrary, the digital divide and digitalized development based on previous inequalities are likely to solidify and amplify the existing rights protection deficits, making the already vulnerable groups even more disadvantaged.

(1) The gender digital divide prevents women from benefiting equally

The gender digital divide mainly refers to the social division caused by differences in the degree of ownership, application and innovation of information and technology between the male and the female. Women cannot automatically and equally benefit from technological innovation. As pointed by Aotonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, “there are still 3 billion people in the world who do not have access to the Internet, most of whom are women and girls in developing countries; Globally, women and girls account for only one-third of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); There are twice as many men as women in the tech industry, and women account for only about a fifth of employees in artificial intelligence; and only 3% of Nobel Prize winners in science are women.” In the poorest countries and regions, women are more marginalized in digitization; within women's groups, rural and elderly women and women with disabilities are more marginalized. Women and girls are being “left behind” in the field of science and technology.

The gender digital divide is a reflection of existing patriarchy and gender stereotypes in the digital age. Studies have shown that “men continue to be falsely portrayed as born with more technical talents than women,” which limits women's opportunities to receive scientific education and then participate in technological innovation. There are even views that women's access to technology and the Internet is immoral and unnecessary, thus placing moral shackles on women's access to and use of the Internet. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, said, “The world is now facing a new kind of “poverty”, a “digital poverty that excludes women and girls in a devastating way.” In May 2023, Sima Bahous proposed that “digital rights are women's rights”, emphasizing that if the gender digital divide is not narrowed first, gender equality and long-term and sustainable economic recovery cannot be achieved.

(3) Digital tools solidify and exacerbate the existing inequalities

The digitalized governance model that ignores gender differences lacks due care for women's needs and does not contribute to the fundamental solution of gender biases or the promotion of gender equality. On the contrary, it may lead to indirect and structural discriminations. As pointed out in the agreed conclusions of Innovation, Technological Change and Education in the Digital Age for the Promotion of the Realization of Gender Equality and the Strengthening of the Empowerment of All Women and Girls (hereinafter referred to as the Agreed Conclusions) (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreed Conclusions”) adopted at the 67th session of United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 2023, although digital technology could be used to promote women's rights, it could also be used to perpetuate gender stereotypes and negative social norms, and create a vicious cycle in which inequalities are amplified and solidified with digital tools.

Digital tools such as big data, algorithms and artificial intelligence are playing an increasingly important role in many fields of people's work and life. These “neutrals”, which seem to be free of prejudice and discrimination, may be becoming the promoters of gender discrimination. In the context of the gender digital divide, most programmers are men, and the male perspective will undoubtedly become the mainstream and ignore the consideration of women's rights; Big data samples are inevitably branded with the existing discriminatory social realities; The needs of women and other vulnerable groups cannot be included in the data samples, resulting in underrepresentation of the samples; after the algorithm arrangement and training of gender-biased or non-gender-conscious programmers, the results obtained are applied to decision-making, which will only further solidify the existing discrimination situation. Since it is generally believed that the conclusions drawn through algorithmic procedures are objective and scientific, which will in turn deepen the prejudice and create a gender gap that is more difficult to overcome than ever before.

“We shouldn’t make Silicon Valley become the valley of death for women's rights,” Aotonio Guterres said at the opening ceremony of the 67th session of United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. He pointed out that “the progress made in women's rights in the past few decades is disappearing. According to the assessment of UN Women, it will take another 300 years to achieve gender equality based on the current developments”.

(3) Digital technology facilitated the gender-based violence

Gender-based violence facilitated by technology has been gradually attracting attention. Gender-based violence facilitated by technology refers to any act that uses communication technologies or other digital tools to commit, facilitate, aggravate, or amplify harm to a certain person on a gender-based basis, such as online sexual crimes, human trafficking, network tracking, harassment and bullying, cyber obscenity, illegal hacking into female's social media accounts or personal computers and other forms of violence; Stealing, disseminating or threatening to disseminate female's personal information and private audio and video materials; malicious tampering with images of female and spreading rumors, and publishing female's false misinformation and hate speech.

In the digital age, gender-based violence facilitated by technology has a large number of victims, spreads rapidly and has devastating consequences, which has been seriously damaging the physical and mental health of the victims, and violating their privacy, political, economic and social and other rights. Due to the digital technology, criminal acts have become more hidden and more difficult to be held accountable.

A small number of women and girls with a high degree of digitization bear the brunt of the risks of discrimination and violence brought about by digitization. Moreover, online gender-based violence shows the characteristics of younger-age trend. The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women pointed out that young girls are the most digitized generation since the beginning of history, but they disproportionately face discrimination and violence that occurs or is exacerbated through the use of technology, which prevents them from fully enjoying the benefits of digital technologies and creates and exacerbates inequalities.

III. To mainstream gender equality into digital decision-making: an important strategy to protect women's rights in the digital age

In the digital age, how to make technology and innovation truly become a powerful “accelerator” for the realization of the development and human rights of all people, including women and girls, is an important issue that needs to be discussed and resolved urgently in the current society. To this end, the international community and governments of various countries are working hard to seek solutions.

(1) International efforts to promote gender equality in the digital age

From March 6 to 17, 2023, the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women identified “innovation and technological change and education in the digital age for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls” as the priority theme. The Conference adopted the Agreed Conclusions, which provided action guidelines for various countries and the international community to use innovation, technological change and digital education to empower women and girls.

1. To mainstream the gender perspective into digital decision-making

Gender perspective mainstreaming is recognized as an important strategy to promote gender equality and women's empowerment, and is also an important strategy for the international community and various countries to promote gender equality and realize women's human rights in the digital age. As was proposed in Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993, the equal status and the human rights of women should be integrated into the mainstream of the activities of the United Nations system. The adoption of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 stressed that effective and mutually reinforcing gender-sensitive policies and programs for the empowerment and advancement of women at all levels should be designed, implemented and monitored, with the full participation of women. In 1997, United Nations Economic and Social Council defined “Mainstreaming the gender perspective/view”: The assessment of the impact of any action plan (including legislation, policies and planning) on men and women in any field and at all levels should be carried out, to make the concerns and experiences of women and men become an indispensable dimension in the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of any political, economic, and social policies and programs to benefit men and women and end inequality. Its ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality in society.

The Agreed Conclusions of Commission on the Status of Women reiterated that the promotion, protection and respect of human rights of women and girls “should be integrated into the mainstream of all policies and programs.” In terms of the digital age specifically, it is necessary to ensure that human rights are promoted, respected and realized in the process of technology conception, design, development, deployment, evaluation and supervision; gender and age factors should be integrated into the mainstream of national laws, digital policies, programs and budgets; and obstacles to women and girls' equal access to science, technology and innovation opportunities should be eliminated.

2. To promote women's participation and give women's awareness of the subject to full play

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly designated 11 February every year as the “International Day of Women and Girls in Science” to promote women and girls' full and equal access to and participation in science.

The Agreed Conclusions of Commission on the Status of Women in 2023 emphasize that all countries should take actions to promote women's full, equal and effective participation, leading and full employment in the field of technology and innovation. To be specific, it includes listening to the voices of women and girls so that they can obtain equal and meaningful learning rights and Internet access, and access to key services; eliminating occupational segregation and creating high-quality jobs, especially in the platform economy, and supporting women to expand their education and employment opportunities in STEM fields and economic sectors; ensuring women's full, equal and effective participation and leading in the digital and technology sectors, including policy, regulation and governance processes.

3. To empower women and girls through gender equality and digital education

The empowerment of women and girls through innovation, technological changes and digital education is an urgent task for the international community to achieve gender equality. As pointed out in Beijing Platform for Action, investment in formal and informal education and the training for girls and women, with particularly high social and economic benefits, has proven to be one of the best means to achieve sustainable development and sustained and sustainable economic growth.

In 2019, the “International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education” held in Beijing adopted the outcome document, i.e., Beijing Consensus on Artificial Intelligence and Education, in which it was stated the participants “should be committed to developing artificial intelligence applications with no gender bias in the field of education, and ensure that the data used in artificial intelligence development is gender-sensitive”, and that “empowerment of girls and women by enhancing their access to artificial intelligence (AI)”. In 2021, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released AI and Education: Guidance for Policy-makers, which provided guidance on how policymakers could use AI to promote gender equality and eliminate algorithmic bias. Subsequently, the UNESCO adopted the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, which took the issue of “gender” as a special area of policy action, and required Member States to formulate relevant policies aimed at supporting girls and women, such as labor force education policies, so as to ensure that they are not excluded from the artificial intelligence-driven digital economy. Besides, it also required Member States to provide more opportunities for women and girls to participate in STEM fields, as well as for their job readiness, employability, equal career development and professional growth.

The Agreed Conclusions of Commission on the Status of Women also call on all countries to take actions to promote gender-based equal digital and science and technology education in the digital age; to invest in digital and data literacy teaching and include it into national curriculum at all levels, to invest in the digital skills of elderly women and provide them with universal and affordable information and communication technologies, including access to and use of new technologies, and meaningful use of digital services to close the gender digital divide.

4. To combat online gender-based violence and create a safe digital environment

The Agreed Conclusions of Commission on the Status of Women have regarded the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence facilitated by technology as an important direction of action for all countries, and put forward a number of specific proposals in terms of prevention, combat of crimes and protection of the victims. In terms of prevention, exploration of new technologies, strengthening of institutional training, and better understanding and tracking of cyber gender-based violence should be carried out to guide evidence-based decision-making and program formulation; and the impact of cyber gender-based violence should be measured comprehensively. Moreover, sexual assaults against girls in digital settings should be prevented and intervened early by ensuring that service providers are equipped with appropriate safeguard measures. In combating crimes, all countries should promote multi-agency coordination, investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of violent acts, and end impunity; provide accessible, confidential and effective supportive reporting mechanisms to ensure that women and girls have access to justice. In terms of protection of the victims, all countries should provide service response measures, including comprehensive social, health care, nursing, legal services and helpline, so as to provide support to prevent victims and survivors from being re-traumatized.

(2) China's efforts to promote gender equality in the digital age

1. Legislation to promote gender mainstreaming

Equality between men and women is a basic state policy in China. China comprehensively revised Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women in 2022, specifying that the state should take necessary measures to promote equality between men and women, eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, and prohibit the exclusion or restriction of women's enjoyment and exercise of various rights and interests in accordance with the law. The law further stipulates that “when relevant authorities formulate or amend laws, regulations, rules and other normative documents concerning women's rights and interests, they shall listen to the opinions of women's federations, fully taking the special rights and interests of women into account, and carry out gender equality assessment when necessary.” The provision is a direct manifestation of gender mainstreaming in Chinese law, and provides a legal basis for analysis and review of the gender impact of various laws, regulations and policies before, during and after the event.

The basic state policy of gender equality should be guided by Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of women and the gender equality evaluation mechanism established. China is taking a number of measures to make women's contributions to the digital age visible, let women's needs be heard, and encourage women to become active participants, contributors, equal beneficiaries and sharers of the digital age. For example, Measures for the Administration of the Establishment of Science and Technology Awards by Social Forces printed and distributed by Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China in February 2023 clearly “encourage the establishment of awards for young and female science and technology workers”. For another example, on April 11, 2023, Cyberspace Administration of China released Measures for the Administration of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services (Draft for Public Comments), in which, it is stipulated that “in the process of algorithm design, training data selection, model generation and optimization, and service provision, measures shall be taken to prevent discrimination based on race, ethnicity, faith, country, region, gender, age, occupation and other information, and that generative artificial intelligence service providers “should not generate discriminatory contents based on the user's race, country, gender and other information”. These provisions reflect efforts to include the gender perspective in digital decision-making.

2. Promotion of female's participation in the digital age

Intelligent agriculture and plants, and Internet + servitization extension have provided a new model for women's business startups and employment. In recent years, more and more Chinese women have started business and find jobs in the field of digital economy. With the rise of online live broadcasting, and live-streaming and online e-commerce, the proportion of women entrepreneurs in China's Internet field has reached 55%. The digitalized ecology created by the digital economy has provided new opportunities for women's career development.

The outstanding performance of Chinese women in the construction of digital China will also have a positive gender impact on men, pushing them to get out of the constraints of traditional gender concepts, strengthening the willingness and practice of cooperation with women in the digital process, and gradually reversing the traditional gender division of labor and gender stereotypes.

3. Empowering the female through education and unleashing female's potentials in STEM fields

China focuses on empowering women and girls through education. According to the 2021 Statistical Monitoring report of the Outline for Women's Development in China (2021-2030) issued by National Bureau of Statistics of China, China has basically closed the gender gap in compulsory education, and girls' right to equal access to compulsory education has been effectively guaranteed. In the high school education stage, the number of female students in regular high schools was 13.081 million, accounting for 50.2% of regular high school students; and it has remained above 50% for seven consecutive years. According to data from World Intellectual Property Organization, women account for 24% of international patent applicants in China, higher than the world average of 17%. According to the Report on Women's Development in China over the Past Century (1921-2021), from 1982 to 2017, the number of female professional and technical personnel increased from 10.126 million to 15.297 million, and the proportion of women increased from 38.3% to 47.8%. Statistical data from Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China has shown that currently women account for about 45.8% of Chinese science and technology workers.

However, it should also be noted that there are still significant gender preferences in the subject categories and major selections of higher education in China, and the phenomenon that “the male are more likely to be engaged in science and engineering, while the female tend to choose literature and art” is still prominent. To revolutionize the disadvantage of the female in the STEM fields, we need to start from children, especially to cultivate girls' scientific awareness and innovation ability. To this end, Ministry of Education and other departments of the People's Republic of China issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Scientific Education in Primary and Secondary Schools in the New Era on May 26, 2023, so as to improve the scientific literacy and cultivate the potential of the students. In the Opinions, special emphasis was also placed on the use of advanced educational technologies to make up for the lack of high-quality education and teaching resources in weak areas and schools and special groups of children.

Conclusion

In the digital age, the “technological neutrality” is no longer taken for granted, and the comprehensive and profound impacts of technological changes on human society make it imperative to strengthen digital governance from the source. In order to fully unleash the limitless potentials of cutting-edge technologies for the promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment, we should implement important strategies concerning human rights and gender mainstreaming for digital governance and strive to create a universal, inclusive and non-discriminatory digital age

(Dai Ruijun is research fellow of Institute of International Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.)