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Online violence means real-world danger for women in politics like EU's Lucia Nicholsonová
Content Warning: This clip contains sensitive language.
In a compelling dialogue from a GZERO Global Stage discussion on gender equality in the age of AI, Lucia Nicholsonová, former Slovak National Assembly vice president and current member of European Parliament for Slovakia, recounts her harrowing personal experiences with disinformation campaigns and gendered hate speech online.
Ms. Nicholsonová read example messages she receives online, such as, "Damn you and your whole family. I wish you all die of cancer."
She also has faced false accusations of past criminal activity through deliberate online misinformation campaigns, which she says led to endured public humiliation and threats, even experiencing strangers spitting on her in the streets. These attacks were fueled by misogyny and prejudice and took a toll on her mental well-being and family life.
As Ms. Nicholsonová recalls, “It was a real trauma because I mean, at some point I wasn't able to go out of my home because I felt so threatened.”
The conversation was presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft and the UN Foundation. The Global Stage series convene heads of state, business leaders, technology experts from around the world for critical debate about the geopolitical and technology trends shaping our world.
Watch the full conversation here: What impact will AI have on gender equality?
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The online abuse crisis threatens the mental health of young women worldwide
In a GZERO Global Stage discussion from the sidelines of the United Nation's 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the pervasive issue of online abuse and harassment faced by young women was in the spotlight.
Michelle Milford Morse, the UN Foundation's Vice President for Girls and Women Strategy points out that “more than half of young women are experiencing some form of abuse and harassment online, sometimes as young as eight,” underscoring the urgent need for collective efforts to combat online abuse and create safer digital spaces for everyone, but especially women. Milford Morse points out the importance that we all work towards a future where everyone can thrive free from fear and harassment in both physical and digital environments.
The conversation was presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft and the UN Foundation. The Global Stage series convene heads of state, business leaders, technology experts from around the world for critical debate about the geopolitical and technology trends shaping our world.
Watch the full conversation here: What impact will AI have on gender equality?
Supporters of a bill aimed at decriminalizing female genital mutilation demonstrate as parliament debates the bill in Banjul, Gambia March 18, 2024.
Gambia's parliament considers overturning ban on female genital cutting
Gambia’s National Assembly voted Monday to advance a bill repealing the country’s ban on female genital cutting. The vote sent the bill to committee, buying opponents three months before repealing the ban is up for a final vote. If it passes, Gambia will become the first nation to roll back protections against cutting, potentially setting a dangerous precedent for other countries.
Over 75% of women in Gambia experience cutting, which usually involves removing the clitoris and labia minora of girls between the ages of 10 and 15 and often leads to infection and life-threatening complications during childbirth.
The practice was banned in 2015 but only enforced for the first time last year. After three practitioners were fined, influential imams in the Muslim-majority country called to repeal the ban, claiming that cutting is religiously and culturally important.
Anti-cutting campaigners protested outside Parliament during the vote, but only religious leaders and their supporters advocating for the repeal were granted entrance. Out of the 47 lawmakers present, 42 voted to advance the repeal in a parliament with only five women.
Opponents of the bill fear that if the ban is repealed, other laws protecting women and girls, like the ban on child marriage, will be next.
First lady Jill Biden makes remarks before U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order to expand and improve research on women's health.
Biden targets gender inequality in medical research
This initiative is long overdue. For most of history, scientific study has been based almost entirely on men – the government didn’t even require women to be included in medical research until the 1990s.
This has led to knowledge gaps on diseases disproportionately affecting women, like multiple sclerosis or endometriosis, and minimal understanding of conditions that affect women differently from men, like post-menopausal rheumatoid arthritis.
Just in time for the election. Biden knows he needs women to come out and vote if he is going to beat former President Donald Trump. He currently leads Trump by 6 points when it comes to suburban women and by 10 points among women overall.
Abortion and reproductive rights have proven to be mobilizing issues for Democrats, helping them win special elections, outperform in the 2022 midterms, and keep control of the US Senate. This initiative gives the Biden campaign another talking point as he tries to woo women to the polls in November.
She's got the power
Happy women’s history month! This week, we look at female representation in the US Congress and Canadian Parliament.
In Canada, Agnes Campbell Macphail became the first woman elected to the House of Commons and the first female parliamentarian in 1921. Jeannette Rankin from Montana broke the glass ceiling in the US by being the first woman elected to Congress in 1916. A year later, she earned a second distinction by joining 49 of her House colleagues in voting against US entry into World War I – a vote that destroyed her prospects for reelection in 1918.
Today, women are making gains but remain underrepresented in the House of Commons and Congress. The 44th federal general election in 2021 saw women win 103 of the 338 seats in the House of Commons, marking the first time women's representation in the House surpassed 30%. In the US Congress, there are 126 women in the 435-seat-strong House of Representatives and 25 women serving in the Senate.
Tens of thousands of Icelandic women, including Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir (pictured), are expected to strike from paid and unpaid jobs on Tuesday in a protest against gender inequality.
Hard Numbers: Iceland’s women stop cold, Zimbabwe faces fresh epidemic, China-Philippines high seas crash, oil majors keep betting on oil, moon gets older overnight
48: For the first time in 48 years, the women of Iceland are going on strike. The one-day work stoppage on Tuesday — which the country’s PM, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, will take part in — will spotlight unequal pay between men and women, as well as gender-based violence. Although Iceland tops the list for global gender pay equality among countries, women still earn 21% less than men in some jobs.
5,000: Zimbabwe is struggling with its worst outbreak of cholera in years, with more than 5,000 infections of the deadly waterborne illness recorded since February. A shortage of functional water wells and water purification programs has contributed to the outbreak.
2: The Filipino government has summoned the Chinese ambassador in Manila after Chinese ships collided with two Filipino boats on Sunday in disputed waters. The Philippines is one of half a dozen nations that — with backing from international courts — reject China’s sweeping claims to their territorial waters. The US on Monday reiterated its treaty-bound commitment to defend the Philippines.
53 billion: US Energy giant Chevron on Monday agreed to buy smaller rival Hess for a whopping $53 billion. The move, which comes just weeks after Chevron's rival ExxonMobil snapped up Pioneer Natural Resources, a West Texas shale oil producer, for more than $60 billion, sends a signal: Climate change or not, the two US companies believe that strong demand for oil and gas isn’t going anywhere.
40 million: Who among us wants to learn that we are actually older than we assumed? Well, spare a thought for the moon which, it turns out, is 40 million years older than previously believed. The finding, which puts the age of the moon at 4.46 billion years, is based on a new analysis of rocks collected from the lunar surface in the 1970s.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misidentified Pioneer Natural Resources as a Canadian company. In fact, it is a shale oil producer that focuses on the Permian basin in West Texas. We regret the error.
Jenni Hermoso is kissed by the president of the RFEF Luis Rubiales during the presentation ceremony of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia.
Will a kiss kick off Spain’s #MeToo?
FIFA has benched Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales for 90 days pending a disciplinary committee investigation of his conduct following Spain’s World Cup victory over England. Rubiales was suspended after he kissed star forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the presentation ceremony, provoking a storm of reaction from Hermoso, her team, the sporting world, and politicians.
While Rubiales initially claimed the kiss was consensual, “spontaneous” and “without any intention of bad faith,” last Monday he called it “a mistake.” That didn’t satisfy Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who said the apology for an “unacceptable gesture” was “not enough.” Yolanda Díaz, acting second deputy prime minister, called for Rubiales to resign. Spanish men’s international striker Borja Iglesias said he will not play for the national team “until things change,” and Hermoso’s teammates vowed not to play any more games as long as Rubiales remains as president.
But Rubiales then changed his tune. On Friday, he defended himself before an Extraordinary General Assembly of FIFA and refused to quit. The next day, Spain’s football federation accused Hermoso of lying and backed up Rubiales’ version of events, threatening to sue the star forward if she did not play.
In response, Hermoso issued a lengthy post to X, formerly known as Twitter, writing that “I felt vulnerable and a victim of an impulse-driven, sexist, out-of-place act without any consent on my part,” and that she had been pressured to issue a statement “to justify Mr. Rubiales’ actions.” In solidarity, 11 coaches and technical staff resigned and released a joint statement condemning Rubiales’ conduct. FIFA has ordered both Rubiales and the Spanish football federation to refrain from contacting Hermoso and those close to her.
This leaves everyone wondering, will this be Spain’s “Me Too” moment? So far, the score appears to be Hermoso 1, Rubiales 0.
As Sudan war worsens, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says UN must help
On August 1, the United States will take over the presidency of the UN Security Council.
Ian Bremmer sat down with US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield at the UN headquarters in New York to find out what’s on the US agenda for the council presidency next month.
High on the list is addressing issues of food insecurity, human rights violations, and calling out Russia for their ongoing war in Ukraine. But Thomas-Greenfield is also concerned about another global conflict that isn’t getting nearly the same amount of attention: the war in Sudan.
On July 23, the Sudan conflict entered its 100th day. The war is waging a devastating human toll, reigniting ethnic violence and increasing concerns the country is descending into a “full-scale civil war.” On April 15, tensions between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted into armed conflict, turning Khartoum and surrounding areas into a war zone. More than 3 million people have been displaced from their homes, including 700,000 refugees who’ve fled to nearby countries. The health ministry reports that some 1,136 people have been killed, though the true number is believed to be much higher.
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield says that maintaining peace and security around the globe is a fundamental responsibility of the Security Council. While the war in Ukraine is certainly a priority, the war in Sudan must also be on the agenda.
“The people in Sudan want to hear from the Security Council that we have not forgotten them, that we care about the human rights violations that are being committed,” Thomas-Greenfield told Bremmer. “They need to hear the world has not turned their backs on what is happening in their country.”
Watch the upcoming full interview on GZERO World with Ian Bremmer on gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld and on US public television. Check local listings.