Side Event: Gender approaches to cyber security

Anahiby Becerril

Q: @James Thank you for your answer James. In the academy we have the opportunity to approach various groups and I consider it important to be able to influence and contribute with them, for the development of capacities, taking advantage of the resources they have to impact girls, adolescents and professional women.

James Shires

Q: @Prof Becerril - great Q. We highlight these groups in our report, saying that OEWG and other UN processes should make an effort to reach out to them and other NGO or civil society groups.

Renata Dalaqua

Q: In order to improve your experience with other UNIDIR events, we kindly ask that you take a moment to fill out a feedback survey: https://forms.gle/k9YGeEPfaHnSjczW7

Anahiby Becerril

Q: Anahiby Becerril (visiting professor UNAM) In addition to the efforts of governments and institutions, as Mila pointed out, there are various regional groups of women in cybersecurity (for example: Women4Cyber, WiCyS, Women in Cyber, etc.), some bring together private sector actors, others are multidisciplinary and multistakeholder. Considering that they have a more local contact to be able to reach girls and women to train and develop skills to train and join the discussion. How can we take advantage of these communities and networks to be able to strengthen the participation of women in the discussion?

Sirine Hijal

Q: For more information on Gender Based Analysis+ (GBA+) https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/gba-acs/index-en.html

James Shires

Q: As Kate said, we want to build on existing resources as much as possible in recommending gender and cybersecurity toolkits/curricula - see e.g. https://iwpr.net/what-we-do/printed-materials/cyberwomen and https://en.gendersec.train.tacticaltech.org/

Rebecca

Independent Consultant but working with Chatham House

Q: Working on military and government capacity building offline and in the non cyber space is an uphill challenge. Gender can be stuck in the feminist space and equity too under the WPS agenda. How can we encourage an improved centre of machine approach in cyber security and, ensure that there are entry points beyond the feminist? (to Kate Millar)

Debra Decker

Q: Thank you, Mila, for your discussion of algorithms. I just watched a documentary “The Social Dilemma” https://www.thesocialdilemma.com/ that discusses how young white males control social media platforms and search engines – this leads to biased algorithms for what we individually view as well as other biases. In addition to having women involved in the development of these, what work has been done on best practices for state oversight of ICT businesses, esp. related to gender?

Q: Please participate in the poll via this link: https://www.menti.com/davn5wutc6 The code is 65 78 13 8

Henri Myrttinen

Q: Thank you to the organisers and presenters for a great event so far! I was wondering if any of the presenters have also been looking at how the term "gender" itself (and issues such as gender equality, "gender ideology", feminism) have become weaponised in online spaces, for lack of a better term, and used as mobilizing tools by non-state actors, including extremist groups and looser networks such as 'incels', which can then spill over into both online and off-line misogynist violence?

Tara Hairston

Q: I am also interested in discussion in response to Marilia Maciel's question. Particularly, because states should also account for gendered impacts of ICTs in their own contributions to ICT development. State-directed R&D to develop and promote emerging technologies, for example, should consider the multiplicity of threat models through rights-based and gendered lenses and ongoing disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities.

Véronique Christory

Q: Véronique @icrc fully agree with Mila. thanks so much Canada Australia UK NZ Netherlands to launch this very important initiative. Was delighted and honored to participate in it. Since then @ICRC I push to have more women participating in panels / taking the floor. Huge thanks

Véronique Christory

Q: Véronique @icrc fully agree with Mila. thanks so much Canada Australia UK NZ Netherlands to launch this very important initiative. Was delighted and honored to participate

Fabio Barbero

EUISS

Q: Women in Cyber Fellowship is one of the impactful projects within the 2020 Edition of the Good Cyber Stories. For more info: https://eucyberdirect.eu/good-cyber-stories/ And the animated video explaining the Fellowship and its impact: https://youtu.be/U1VJyzePJOc

Marilia Maciel

DiploFoundation

Q: Thank you for the overview. Did the increased participation of women in the OEWG also include non-government women voices? How can their participation be enhanced in the OEWG and maybe in the GGE? Although the participation of women representing States is very welcome, state representatives – men or women – are still bound by the instructions received from their governments. Since the formulation of security policy within states is male-centered, some of the pillars that underpin male views on international affairs – ex. centrality of the State, not of its people; dichotomy between state vs. nation, use of violence as acceptable means to achieve State’s security objectives - will hardly be questioned. What are the measures being taken for the inclusion of non-state women actors, capable of questioning gender-biased frameworks embraced by States on security discussions? Thank you (to Sirine Hijal)

Renata Dalaqua

Q: The research paper by Dr. Katharine Millar, Dr. James Shires and Dr. Tatiana Tropina will be published by UNIDIR in January In the meantime, check out their commentary: “Advancing Gender Considerations In The Cyber OEWG” https://unidir.org/commentary/advancing-gender-considerations-cyber-oewg

Tara Hairston

Q: So intrigued by Dr. Millar's comments. Would be interested in everyone's thoughts on how to address the normative issues she raised. Would the "broadening" of what constitutes "expertise" be useful to expand participation in this sort of policymaking? How do we combat gender "blindness" to improve access, re-define safety and security by design to account for gendered impacts in tech development, and ensure better outcomes for those targeted by cyber-facilitated violence (both at interpersonal/community/state levels)?

Dan McBryde

Canada

Q: Sarah Shoker's paper: https://front.un-arm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/commissioned-research-on-gender-and-cyber-report-by-sarah-shoker.pdf WILPF / APC paper: https://front.un-arm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/gender-matters-report-web-letter-copy.pdf Women in Cyber fellowship program: https://eucyberdirect.eu/good_cyber_story/women-in-international-security-and-cyberspace-fellowship/ Canada, Netherlands, UK, Australia and New Zealand are donors; recipient are women from 30+ States