Why the web needs to work for women and girls

When the world celebrated the web’s 30th birthday a year ago, we were reminded of the incredible things it has enabled — and all that we stand to lose if we don’t fight for it. I asked everyone to join together and do what they can to make sure the next 30 years of the web is even greater than the last. A year later, with the help of activists, academics, policymakers and business people across the world, the Web Foundation has built and published a Contract for the Web— endorsed by companies, institutions and thousands of organisations and individuals — designed to protect and shape a web that is safe, empowering and available to all. It’s becoming increasingly clear that we cannot achieve the aims of this Contract unless we address a dangerous trend we are hearing more and more about from our partners globally and working on the frontline: the web is not working for women and girls. The world has made important progress on gender equality thanks to the unceasing drive of committed champions everywhere. But I am seriously concerned that online harms facing women and girls — especially those of colour, from LGBTQ+ communities and other marginalised groups — threaten that progress. This should concern us all. Women’s rights are human rights and are fundamental to a healthy society, from reducing poverty and disease to improving education and economic growth. 

In 2020, we must channel the ambitious, collaborative spirit behind the Contract for the Web to tackle the digital gender divide and online harms against women and girls: 

• Prioritise the problem: 2020 must be the year governments and companies tackle online harms against women as a top priority.
• Provide better data: Companies and governments must tackle the data void around online violence by systematically recording and publishing data on what women experience online.
• Embed ‘gender equality by design’: Governments and companies must create all products, policies, and services based on data and feedback from women of all backgrounds.
• Build legal protections: Governments must develop laws that hold perpetrators of online gender-based violence to account, and resource law enforcement to respond and prosecute when those laws are violated.
• Be active bystanders: We must all speak up when we see harms against women and girls online.