HRLS FH UNAIR Holds Webinar Series to Commemorate International Women’s Day with the Theme of Women & Technology
The world celebrates International Women’s Day every March 8. International Women’s Day is not only celebrated in the form of celebration, but also a reminder of women’s rights and how women are an essential part of society. International Women’s Day is celebrated in various ways around the world. Heads of the state usually give state speeches about the current situation regarding women’s rights and policies that the state has to promote gender justice. Giving flowers as a symbol to women is also carried out in several European countries and the United States, especially mimosa flowers. The mimosa flower is considered a symbol of honor, dignity, and majesty.
Indonesia also took part in celebrating International Women’s Day. There are many ways to do this, including holding actions, conferences, seminars, and other activities based on women’s issues and gender justice. In commemoration of International Women’s Day, the Center for Human Rights Law Studies at the Faculty of Law, Universitas Airlangga (HRLS FH UNAIR) collaborated with the Center for Gender and Children Studies (PSGA) Surabaya State University), Center for Anti-Corruption and Democracy (PUSAD) Muhammadiyah University Surabaya, DigitalMAMA .ID, Center for Maritime and Ocean Law Studies (MAROCLAW) FH UNAIR, and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Surabaya held International Women’s Day 2023: 3 Literacy Workshop Series “Becoming Powerful Women in the Cyber World”. The activity, which was held on Wednesday (8/3/2023) was adjusted to the theme set by the United Nations (UN), namely “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”.
The webinar series consists of speakers from the six collaborating institutions, namely Satria Unggul W. Prakasa (PUSAD), Catur Ratna Wulandari (Editor In Chief DigitalMAMA.ID), Hanaa Septiana (AJI), Masitoh Indriani (HRLS), Franky Butar Butar (HRLS), Putri Aisiyah R. Dewi (PSGA), Inge Christanti (Center for Human Rights Studies at the University of Surabaya), and Dr. Sjafiatul Mardliyah (PSGA). Apart from discussing information literacy, this webinar series also discusses personal data protection and online gender-based violence (KGBO).
“We have adapted the theme of this series of digital literacy classes to commemorating International Women’s Day from the United Nations, which focuses on the importance of fulfilling women’s rights in the digital era. This theme is interesting and is relevant to the current situation of women in Indonesia,” said Putri Aisiyah, PSGA researcher.
Based on a digital literacy index survey conducted by the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Republic of Indonesia (Kominfo RI) in 2022, the digital literacy index for women is lower than that for men. From a scale of 1 – 5, the digital literacy index for women only reaches 3.5 for the digital skills dimension, 3.6 for digital ethics, and the lowest is in the digital safety dimension, at point 3.07. Currently, various aspects of life have experienced digitalization. Digitalization in multiple aspects of life positively impacts and can bring about better changes. However, digitalization also can potentially violate the rights of vulnerable groups, including women. Many cases place women as victims of digitalization, ranging from lacking access to the digital economy to KBGO.
“The aim of this webinar series is for women to become more empowered in the virtual space, to reduce the gap for women to technological developments, and to provide protection when using technology. To support this goal, the protection of personal data is required. Personal data needs to be protected because it is part of privacy. This personal data includes general personal data consisting of identities ranging from full names to marital status and specific personal data ranging from health information to personal financial data,” said Masitoh Indriani, HRLS researcher.
Masitoh also explained what forms of crime are lurking on personal data, such as collecting personal data that is not his to benefit himself or others, deliberately and unlawfully disclosing personal data that is not his, intentionally and illegally using personal data that do not belong to him, intentionally falsifying personal data to benefit himself or others, and deliberately selling or buying personal data.
Apart from discussing the importance of maintaining personal data privacy, the presenters also explained how to increase women’s competence as capable actors who produce, distribute, and consume information safely and according to the culture of digital society. Apart from that, it also discussed how to respond to and recognize the modes of KBGO.
