Human Rights Council adopts Belgian resolution on combating technology-facilitated gender-based violence

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The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today adopted a new resolution by Belgium on combating technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Combating gender-based violence is a priority of Belgian foreign policy. Our country took this initiative as part of Belgium's current mandate at the Human Rights Council (2023-2025).

The dissemination of intimate images, the use of surveillance technology to monitor or spy on victims, the misuse of digital technologies to intimidate, threaten and hate speech against women and girls and other forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence are not only human rights violations in themselves, but also have a major additional impact on women’s and girls' participation in public and political life, their freedom of expression and their right to privacy, among others.

The importance, scale, nature and impact of technology-facilitated gender-based violence requires much more strategic and coordinated action to raise awareness, for prevention, victim support, criminalisation, access to justice and to rethink the role and accountability of private actors, including digital platforms.

Thanks to this initiative, taken jointly with Albania, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Morocco, the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee will prepare a study on the issue of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, including specific recommendations and good practices to address it. The explicit support of more than 50 countries reiterates the importance of the issue and the global political will to take concrete action against these human rights violations against women and girls.
 

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