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Empowering African women against cyber-harassment
Safe Sisters fight harassment and 'revenge porn' with education
Online abuse and cyber-harassment mean a disproportionate number of women remove themselves from crucial discussions. One not-for-profit is making a change for women in East Africa.
Can women protect themselves from online harassment?
<p>In the digital age, not only do we send videos to friends and sing online karaoke with those we've never met, many are using social media to fight for equality. But online harassment, image-based sexual abuse (also called 'revenge porn') and cyberattacks can stop women especially from being part of the conversation that leads to real change. These cowardly acts also leave victims feeling embarrassed, ashamed and alone.</p><a href="https://safesisters.net/" target="_blank">Safe Sisters</a> is a fellowship program empowering girls and women, especially human rights activists, journalists and those in the media, to fight online abuse. In Defenders of Digital season two episode five, Safe Sisters' Immaculate Nabwire explains a landmark Ugandan image-based sexual abuse case that inspires her, the digital threats women in East Africa face and how her team are fighting for change."Recently, a young woman approached me during my daughter´s cheerleading practice. She asked me what I do for a living. She'd been thinking about her future and had overheard me talking about cybersecurity. We spent some time talking about my role and my passion. At age 17, she was already concerned that being a woman in the industry might be hard." - Daniela Alvarez de Lugo, General Manager at Kaspersky.
What would you have advised her if you were in this situation?
This year for International Women's Day, people around the world are talking about how we can improve equality, so the next generation of girls can achieve whatever they want in their life and career. So, we asked women in tech business: How can we get there fasterBe brave and follow your passion
<p>Luckily, we do not live in the 1960s anymore, where it was very unusual and nearly impossible for a woman to work in the tech or science branches. But even back then we do find success stories, like the example of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson shows.</p>Daniela Alvarez de Lugo, General Manager at Kaspersky
<p>Indeed, girls and young professionals should not be afraid of the numbers above, in contrary, they should encourage women to be part of the change. All they need is to hear about the career's opportunities and advantages.</p><p>"I believe gender equality will benefit all industries. Men and women have different needs, ideas and visions. Diversity is a way to improve and expand." - Vicky Piria, Racing Driver.</p>Vicky Piria, Racing Driver
Open up the doors in tech industry
<p>Our society is getting more and more digital every day and we can't imagine living without technologies like our smartphone or computer. Accordingly, there are many tech companies worldwide and a lot of them are counting to the <a href="https://ceoworld.biz/2019/06/28/the-top-100-best-performing-companies-in-the-world-2019/" target="_blank">most successful organizations</a>.</p><p>But in the cybersecurity sector, for instance, it can be hard for young professionals to enter, according to Noushin Shabab, security researcher at Kaspersky. "Many organizations recruit only experts. This leaves few opportunities for graduates and other newcomers who want to start their cyber security career. We need to create more internships and jobs for recent grads. But more important than hiring the same number of men and women is building a culture that lets women and men work and grow in a balanced, healthy and safe environment. If we love where we work, we enjoy and achieve more."</p>Noushin Shabab, Security Researcher at Kaspersky
<p>Luckily, there have been organizations already, which have the mission to empower and support women with the access and community they need to succeed in tech business:</p><ul><li><em><a href="https://girlsintech.org/" target="_blank">Girls in Tech<br></a></em></li><li><a href="https://www.womenwhocode.com/" target="_blank"><em>Women who Code</em></a></li><li><a href="https://swe.org/" target="_blank"><em>Society of Women Engineers</em></a></li><li><em><a href="https://witi.com/" target="_blank">Women in Technology International</a></em></li><li><a href="https://www.kaspersky.co.uk/cyberstarts" target="_blank"><em>Cyber Starts</em></a></li></ul>