Caroline
Masboungi
GBV Specialist (Tech & Innovation) at UNICEF
"Designing Digital Safe Spaces for women and girls"
"Designing Digital Safe Spaces for women and girls"
23 - 7:30 AM EDT/New York (See in local time)
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05/23/2025 7:30 AM
05/23/2025 07:50 AM
America/New_York
#WTGC2025
"Designing Digital Safe Spaces for women and girls"
#WTGC2025
"Designing Digital Safe Spaces for women and girls"
https://www.womentech.net/ringcentral
https://www.womentech.net/ringcentral
"Designing Digital Safe Spaces for women and girls"
"Designing Digital Safe Spaces for women and girls"
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Session: Designing Digital Safe Spaces for women and girls
Over the past decade, the surge in global digital advancements has been profound. A significant push from the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in about 66% of the world's population shifting online. This digital shift played an instrumental role in mitigating the pandemic's adverse impacts. However, this transition underscored the stark digital divide between genders, with women, especially from low-income nations, having limited access to the Internet and fewer opportunities in the tech sector. The gender digital skills gap remains pronounced, further reinforcing biases in technology design and applications, especially in humanitarian settings. Addressing these disparities, in 2021, as part of UNICEF, in collaboration with various partners, I embarked on a journey to establish Laaha, a Virtual Safe Space (VSS) platform (www.laaha.org), tailored for women and girls in crisis zones. This upcoming event convenes experts to discuss the importance of online safe spaces for these vulnerable groups, the potential hazards of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, and ways to bridge the gender digital divide, emphasizing safety, ethics, and a people-centric approach. Join us as we unravel strategies to foster a secure, inclusive, and empowering digital environment for all women and girls.Key Takeaways
- Inclusive Design for Digital Empowerment: It is crucial to incorporate women and girls, including those in humanitarian settings, as active participants in the design and development of digital products. By placing them at the core, their needs, safety,
- Addressing the Gender Divide and Mitigating Backlash: When creating digital products for women and girls, it is essential to consider the gender digital divide and the potential risks of technology-facilitated gender-based violence. By incorporating mea
- Enhancing Accessibility in Fragile Contexts: Digital products designed for women and girls in humanitarian and fragile contexts should prioritize accessibility features. Considering factors such as low digital literacy and connectivity, the design shoul
Bio
Caroline Masboungi works with UNICEF as Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Specialist focused on Innovations and Service Delivery. She is based in Geneva Headquarters. She oversees a complex portfolio of GBV-related digital innovations such as Laaha, the virtual safe space platform for women and girls, and provides strategic leadership to GBV response services projects. She comes with over 14 years of experience on Gender-Based Violence prevention, response and risk mitigation and fight against impunity of sexual violence in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.