{"id":118673,"date":"2026-03-10T19:50:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T22:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/898585008"},"modified":"2026-03-10T19:50:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T22:50:49","slug":"gender-equality-efforts-eroded-by-tech-based-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/gender-equality-efforts-eroded-by-tech-based-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender equality efforts ‘eroded’ by tech-based abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Maeve Bannister<\/span><\/span>AAP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/address>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Experts
Camera Icon<\/title><span class=\"css-1jz8t79-StyledFigCaptionText e13f1dd24\"><span class=\"css-1vt5x9l-Caption e13f1dd23\">Experts warn tech-facilitated abuse has become normalised among young people. (Dean Lewins\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/span><span> Credit: <!-- -->AAP<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"BreachScreen\">\n<div class=\"css-1ket735-StyledArticleContent ec9stsv2\">\n<div class=\"css-1qizp4e-StyledNestedGrid ec9stsv4\">\n<aside>\n<div class=\"ec9stsv3 css-1wjn2od-StyledSharing-TheWestStyledSharing e1sjvqe43\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-1bgobxc-StyledBlockContent eh7f8mi2\" id=\"ArticleContent\">\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Tech-facilitated abuse and harassment has become normalised among young people, with advocates calling for better education to ensure people understand it’s a crime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Emerging technology enabling gender-based violence was discussed at an event hosted by Australia on the sidelines of the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">All strides towards gender equality were being eroded by the normalisation of tech-facilitated abuse among young people, Australian Teach Us Consent founder Chanel Contos told the event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“Tech-facilitated abuse is a very large term, but if we think very specifically about the non-consensual sending of dick pics or using AI to create sexually explicit content, it’s something that has happened so suddenly, particularly among young people that it’s become a part of their fabrics,” she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“It’s something that there are apps that mean you can do it in seconds … and this is a highly gendered issue, because 90-to-95 per cent of those non-consensual, sexually explicit images are of women.”<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-zgv3l7-StyledFederalElectionInArticleBannerContainer-StyledGenericArticleBannerContainer eugwi9o3\">\n<h2 class=\"css-1ee0jgf-StyledFederalElectionInArticleBannerTitle-StyledHeading eugwi9o2\">WA’s biggest courts and crime stories to your inbox<\/h2>\n<div class=\"css-1ak47jc-StyledFederalElectionInArticleBannerTextContainer-StyledTextContainer eugwi9o1\">\n<p>Sign-up to our weekly newsletter for free<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"css-k3bdon-StyledButton eugwi9o0\" href=\"https:\/\/cloud.mail.wanews.com.au\/thewest_newsletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sign up<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Ms Contos said young people needed to be educated on this form of abuse as being a crime, rather than typical bullying or part of growing up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“This is eroding all strides towards gender equality when it’s become normalised, and I think it’s continuing to reinstate a gender hierarchy that does not serve any woman or girl worldwide,” she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Meanwhile, UNFPA deputy executive director Pio Smith praised Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant for paving the way for the rest of the world when it comes to responding to technology.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“It comes at a deep personal and professional cost, but it’s leaders like this that actually are really making a difference,” Mr Smith said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“They’re opening the space up for so many other women and men to fall into that policy and look at the written effect that her work, her leadership, her bravery, has had.”<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">More than 3000 delegates representing governments, charities, non-government organisations and advocacy groups have been granted accreditation to attend this year’s CSW conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">This year’s major theme is ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">In his final address to the commission before his terms ends as UN Secretary General, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres spoke to the power gaps that are an inherent cause of gender inequality.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“We see those power gaps everywhere from the arena of politics to economic decision making to the technologies shaping our future, including AI,” he said at his Town Hall address to delegates on Tuesday local time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“Patriarchy is rampant in the Silicon Valleys of the world, and that is where power today is becoming more and more concentrated, and power is never given willingly, even when sharing that power benefits everyone.”<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Mr Guterres praised the work of everyone in the room for being on the frontlines of defending hard won rights for women and girls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">But he also issued a warning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“A bitter wind is blowing around the world, that wind is hardening attitudes and fuelling a backlash against women’s rights,” he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1ix6vwn-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">“Don’t let up. Progress is fragile. Rights can be rolled back much faster than they were won.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"css-10rxewn-StyledLink eok7qd62\" href=\"https:\/\/thewest.com.au\/manage-email-preferences\"><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-kpp3bs-StyledBannerMessage eok7qd61\">Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.<\/h2>\n<p class=\"LinkBannerCTA css-ucqz6o-StyledCTA eok7qd60\">Sign up for our emails<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\"> <\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/blockads.fivefilters.org\/acceptable.html\"> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"match\">Tech<\/span>-facilitated abuse and harassment … #39;s a crime. Emerging <span class=\"match\">technology<\/span> enabling gender-based violence was … being eroded by the normalisation of <span class=\"match\">tech<\/span>-facilitated abuse among young people … Chanel Contos told the event. "<span class=\"match\">Tech<\/span>-facilitated abuse is a very …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}