Women urged to empower themselves through technology
RUNDU – The Division of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare regional head in the Kavango East, Benedikta Kamunoko, recently called on the public, to fight against the use of technology to objectify and abuse women.
Kamunoko made the remarks at the belated commemoration of International Women’s Day, which took place in the Mashare constituency.
Withtheadvancementoftechnology, more people, especially women, become more exposed to being victims of online gender-based violence.
Women need to be appreciated, protected and educated about how to protect themselves in this digital era.
Kamunoko further noted the way women are portrayed through various technology-based platforms is worrisome; “in music videos, for example, oftentimes, women are used in these videos to attract a crowd, which they do half naked,” she said.
Instead of people using to platforms to ease communication, they end up using them for exposing each other’s nude pictures when a relationship ends.
The theme for this year’s commemoration was ‘DigitAll: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality’, which focuses on ensuring that technology is equally enjoyed by everyone and that it is used to improve the lives of women rather than degrade them.
“There is still a lot to be done to make sure the welfare of women is protected; our rights need to be protected so that we can achieve the freedom we want to see”, noted the regional head.
Community members from the Mashare constituency said celebrating and educating women should be done often and not just once a year because lack of knowledge is one of the reasons some of them endure various forms of abuse in their homes.
“Women have lost their voices because of abuse. We are not well educated on our rights, especially when it comes to gender-based violence. We need to know who, where and when we can report these issues,” highlighted Shirugu Josephine, a community member from the Ndiyona constituency.
The community members further pleaded with the government to come up with more initiatives that empower women in rural areas.
“Government should create more women empowerment initiatives in the communities so that we can take care of ourselves financially,” said Shiterare Nangura.