Women in Politics

Women politicians and journalists have fallen victim of false information, most often through personal attacks meant to discourage them from politics or silence their voices in the media. Studies by AMWIK, ‘Women Journalists’ Digital Security’ in 2016 and 2017 indicate that social media has been the most used platform for attacks against female journalists, with the most common gendered attacks being cyber stalking, sexual harassment, impersonation with parody accounts, surveillance and un-authorized use and manipulation of personal information, including images, and videos. With more women in the public limelight, it is projected that more will become victims of fake news.

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung and the National Commission on the Status of Women jointly organized a one day round table meeting on 12th April, 2013 where more than 22 eminent women from civil society, women organizations, gender experts, media, EU and government bodies participated and actively took part in the discussion.