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UNODC trained 107 community leaders in gender-based cyber-violence, cyber-activism and mechanisms for the prevention of violence against women and girls in the digital space

Guatemala 14 June 2021. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean (UNODC ROPAN) through its office in Guatemala, in coordination with the Center for Research, Training, Support for Women and Youth and the Computer Crime Section of the National Civil Police, conducted a series of workshops in the departments of Guatemala, Alta Verapaz and Chimaltenango.

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have generated new forms of gender-based violence against women and girls by promoting hate speech on social networks. In this regard, UNODC has contributed to enhance the leadership and role of women leaders through the strengthening of their capacities in prevention, care and facilitating access to reporting routes in cases of gender-based cyber-violence.

One hundred and seven (107) women leaders and representatives of the Municipal Women's Directorate of the departments of Guatemala, Chimaltenango and Alta Verapaz were trained during the series of virtual and face-to-face workshops "Cybersecurity and Cyberactivism". The objective of this initiative is to contribute to increasing and strengthening the capacities of Guatemalan women leaders through the development of knowledge, participatory actions and advocacy to make effective the full exercise of digital citizenship.

The "Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences" highlights that 90% of the victims of non-consensual digital distribution of intimate images are women. UNODC provides transformative, intergenerational and multicultural initiatives to disrupt hate speech and violence against women in cyberspace.

In addition, it has contributed to the generation of partnership mechanisms between institutions and leaders, which has resulted in the emergence of tools to strengthen institutional action in the development of the inter-institutional coordination route between the Public Ministry (MP), the National Institute of Forensic Sciences of Guatemala (INACIF) and the National Civil Police; differentiated and specialized attention to victims of cyber violence and expansion of fields related to cyber violence and other emerging tactics of violence against women and girls in the registration in the police computer system.

In addition, contributing to the increase of the response capacity of the cybercrime unit of the National Civil Police for counseling, preservation of digital evidence and activation of the denunciation route with women leaders.

Currently, actions are being carried out to demonstrate the change in the collective imaginary of women leaders about the services provided by the cybercrime unit with the implementation of victim-criminal and community procedures, reducing secondary victimization.

These actions are carried out in the framework of the project "Creating new avenues of resilience to sustain peace from Kaqchiquel, Q'eqchi' and Mestiza women" implemented by UNODC, the United Nations Organization dedicated to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment (UN Women), the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Center for Research, Training and Support for Women (CICAM), funded by the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF).