Lightning Talk #180 Cross Border Collaboration for Womens Digital Safety

Summary

This discussion focused on women’s digital safety challenges in the Global South, presented by Safaa Sarayrah, a digital safety trainer from Jordan who works with activists and human rights defenders in the MENA region and Africa. Sarayrah emphasized that women in conflict-affected areas of the Global South face severe online violence, harassment, blackmail, and hate speech, with limited support systems available to help them. She highlighted that these digital threats can have life-threatening consequences in traditional communities, where issues like leaked private photos could lead to honor killings.

The presenter identified several key barriers preventing women from accessing digital safety resources, including language barriers since most resources are only available in English, lack of basic technical knowledge about security measures like two-factor authentication and strong passwords, and insufficient collaboration between governments, tech companies, and NGOs. Sarayrah cited alarming statistics, noting that 60% of women in the MENA region face online violence, with 80% of Lebanese women experiencing online harassment. She shared examples of Sudanese women displaced by war who struggle to access digital safety training due to language and resource limitations.

The discussion included input from audience members, including Lila from Brazil who mentioned her work providing digital safety training in Portuguese locally, and Catherine Muma, a Kenyan senator who inquired about policy frameworks for legislative protection. Sarayrah proposed solutions at three levels: governments creating suitable local laws, tech companies providing support in local languages, and NGOs offering awareness sessions in native languages. The discussion concluded with acknowledgment that while some regional efforts exist, there remains a critical need for comprehensive, cross-border collaboration to address women’s digital safety in the Global South.

Keypoints

**Major Discussion Points:**

– **Language barriers and accessibility of digital safety resources**: Most digital safety resources are available only in English or major languages, creating significant barriers for women in the Global South who speak local languages and cannot access critical safety information or report harassment on platforms.

– **Cross-border collaboration needs between governments, tech companies, and NGOs**: There is a critical lack of coordination between these three sectors to create comprehensive support systems for women facing digital threats, particularly those displaced by conflicts and wars.

– **Severe consequences of digital violence in traditional communities**: Unlike in other regions, digital harassment, blackmail, and privacy violations can lead to life-threatening situations for women in the Global South, including honor-based violence, making digital safety a matter of survival rather than just privacy.

– **Gap in policy frameworks and legislative protection**: There is insufficient legal infrastructure to protect women from online violence, with limited channels between NGOs working on digital safety and government bodies that could implement protective legislation.

– **Basic digital literacy challenges**: Many women, especially those displaced by conflict or living in traditional communities, lack fundamental knowledge about digital security practices like two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and identifying phishing attempts.

**Overall Purpose:**

The discussion aimed to highlight the urgent need for comprehensive digital safety support systems for women in the Global South, advocating for multi-stakeholder collaboration to address the unique vulnerabilities these women face online, particularly in conflict-affected regions.

**Overall Tone:**

The tone was serious and urgent throughout, with the presenter expressing frustration about existing gaps in support systems. The discussion maintained a problem-focused approach, with the presenter seeking solutions and input from the audience. The tone became slightly more collaborative when audience members shared their experiences, but remained consistently concerned about the gravity of the issues being discussed.

Speakers

– **Safaa Sarayrah**: Digital safety trainer for activists and human rights defenders, specializing in the MENA region and Africa/Global South. From Jordan, Middle East.

– **Audience**: Multiple audience members participated in the discussion (specific roles/expertise not mentioned for this general category)

**Additional speakers:**

– **Lila**: From Brazil, part of trans feminist network of digital care, conducts digital safety trainings in Portuguese for Brazil

– **Catherine Muma**: Senator from Kenya

# Comprehensive Report: Women’s Digital Safety Challenges in the Global South

## Executive Summary

This presentation by Safaa Sarayrah, a digital safety trainer from Jordan specializing in the MENA region and Africa, addressed the critical challenges facing women in the Global South regarding digital safety. Sarayrah highlighted severe gaps in support systems, language accessibility, and cross-sector collaboration, emphasizing that digital threats in these regions can escalate to life-threatening situations. The session included brief contributions from audience members, notably Lila from a trans feminist network of digital care and Senator Catherine Muma from Kenya, who provided additional perspectives on current efforts and policy needs.

## Key Presenter and Audience Contributors

**Safaa Sarayrah** served as the primary presenter, bringing extensive experience as a digital safety trainer working with activists and human rights defenders across the MENA region and Africa. Her presentation was characterized by urgency regarding existing gaps in support systems, emphasizing the life-or-death nature of digital safety issues in traditional communities. She specifically mentioned her work training Sudanese women who moved to Kenya and Uganda due to war.

**Lila** briefly described her work with a trans feminist network of digital care, providing digital safety training in Portuguese for Brazil, illustrating both grassroots initiatives and their geographical limitations.

**Senator Catherine Muma from Kenya** asked about specific policy recommendations, inquiring about legislative frameworks for women’s protection online.

## Critical Challenges Identified

### The Life-or-Death Nature of Digital Violence

Sarayrah established that digital safety concerns in the Global South can have fatal consequences. She emphasized that digital harassment, blackmail, and privacy violations can lead to physical violence or death in traditional communities. As she stated: “if someone take my like private photos or videos, maybe something it’s lead to killing this women in the global south, unfortunately. So it’s a life matter.”

### Statistical Examples Cited

Sarayrah provided examples of the scope of the problem, citing that “60% of the women in [the MENA] region facing online violence” and “80% women in Lebanon facing a violence online” to illustrate the widespread nature of digital violence against women in the region.

### Language Barriers as Systemic Exclusion

A central theme was the critical barrier posed by language accessibility. Sarayrah highlighted that most digital safety resources are available only in English, creating systematic exclusion for women who speak local languages. This barrier extends to platform functionality—women cannot report harassment or access help because they cannot navigate English-language interfaces and support systems.

She specifically asked the audience: “Do you know any platform that provide this kind of support in the local language?” and noted that even when she searches for solutions, “I cannot find anything in Arabic.”

### Knowledge Gaps in Basic Digital Security

Sarayrah identified significant gaps in fundamental digital literacy, particularly among displaced women. She mentioned specific areas where women lack knowledge:

– Two-factor authentication

– Creating strong passwords

– Recognizing phishing attempts and avoiding clicking unknown links

These gaps are particularly pronounced among women displaced by conflict, such as the Sudanese women she trains who moved to Kenya and Uganda due to war.

### Fragmented Support Systems and Lack of Regional Coordination

Sarayrah emphasized the absence of regional coordination, asking the audience: “Do you know if there is any regional hub in the global south that working on supporting women digital safety?” She noted that organizations typically work within their own countries rather than collaborating across the Global South, limiting effectiveness.

## Stakeholder Challenges

### Civil Society and NGO Limitations

Sarayrah noted that many NGOs do not prioritize digital safety training, and negotiations with tech companies have shown limited success. She identified a critical gap: “Unfortunately we like do not have like open like a channel between us and the government’s and what we that missed unfortunately.”

### Governmental Policy Gaps

Senator Muma’s inquiry about whether work had been done “to define how policy would look like” highlighted governmental interest but uncertainty about effective approaches. Sarayrah emphasized the need for “suitable local laws in each country to help women understand their rights and access help.”

### Tech Company Inadequacies

The presentation highlighted that tech companies do not provide adequate support or resources in local languages, with their commercial priorities often conflicting with user safety needs in the Global South.

## Proposed Solutions

### Three-Level Intervention Strategy

Sarayrah proposed comprehensive action at three levels:

1. **Governmental Level**: Creating suitable local laws in each country

2. **Tech Company Level**: Providing support and resources in local languages

3. **NGO Level**: Offering awareness sessions and training in native languages

### Regional Hub Development

A key proposal was establishing regional hubs connecting governments, tech companies, and NGOs to support women’s digital safety across the Global South, addressing current fragmentation while maintaining local sensitivity.

### Immediate Practical Steps

– Creating digital safety resources and platform guides in local languages

– Conducting community assessments to understand specific risks

– Developing culturally appropriate policy frameworks

– Establishing formal channels between NGOs and governments

## Unresolved Challenges

Several fundamental challenges remain unaddressed:

– Lack of formal channels between NGOs and governments

– Tech companies’ limited responsiveness to Global South needs

– Insufficient infrastructure for local language support

– Particular vulnerabilities of displaced populations

## Conclusion

This presentation illuminated the urgent nature of women’s digital safety challenges in the Global South, where digital violence can have fatal consequences. While Sarayrah identified clear needs for multi-stakeholder collaboration, language accessibility, and regional coordination, significant gaps remain in implementation and resource allocation. The session demonstrated both the severity of these issues and the potential for collaborative solutions, provided stakeholders can develop more effective cross-sector cooperation mechanisms.

The life-or-death nature of digital safety issues in these contexts demands immediate attention from governments, tech companies, and civil society organizations, requiring not only technical solutions but fundamental changes in how these stakeholders prioritize and support women in the Global South.

Safaa Sarayrah: Hello, everyone. To this slide talking about the women’s digital safety, especially in the Global South. Welcome. And first I want to introduce myself. My name is Safaa Sarayrah. I’m from Jordan, Middle East. And I work as a digital safety trainer for activists, human rights defenders, especially in the MENA region and Africa, Global South. First, when I come my idea to come to the idea of that, because from my work, respect of point, because we are working in the Middle East, and we are working on the Global South, which we have a lot of wars, unfortunately, and a lot of a lot of conflicts. And as a woman, yeah, and a girl in the Global South, we are suffering a lot of the online violence, harassment, block mail, whatever, hate speech, because we are working, like for women, we are working on the human rights, or the women also they working on the journalists, especially in the hot and the wars, like spot. So I wanted to talk about some points in this session. And I would like from the people they are so like to share also their experience if they have. First thing that we will talk about that collaboration, the cross border in the Global South, and the rest of the world. Why this matter? Because in the Global South, this the risk and the threat of even the digital threat, or the physical digital threat, because they are women, they are traveling, they are like moving from, like a war or a conflict country to another country, and they are facing a lot of risk. And they do not have that support, much support, especially in the digital, because we do not have that support. For example, if I as a journalist, or a human rights defender, or a woman, and I face a harassment, or a hate speech, or a digital like a threat, I don’t know where to go. Who can help me? Who can support me? So this is like we need the collaboration, why this is very, very important issues and matters. Okay, so what is the key points to get from this session or from these conferences, how we can open channels between the governments, between the tech company and the NGOs? Because this collaboration is like that the secret point to make like a system to support women in the global south. Let’s take like the Sudan case. I trained a lot of Sudanese women. They are because the war in the Sudan, they are moved from Sudan to Kenya, or Uganda. And when I train them on the like a digital security safety, even the basic things is hard for them. Because like the language barrier for them, because most of the resources are in English, or in other language. And as you know, Sudan, they have a lot of language inside it. They took some Arabic, English newbies, and they do not have like the much knowledge how to access the resources. So this is a weak point we can work on it, like to make a platforms, especially from the big tech company, supporting the local languages for the women in the global south, because they have a languages barrier. They do not know how, for example, to report a harassment on the platform. They do not know. They do not know that they are, for example, a guides or something. Let me give you an example. Most of the women I trained them, they do not have how like to active, for example, the 2FA. It’s a basic thing, or to like to establish or setting up a strong password, or when they have like a links and their WhatsApp and their other social media, they just click connect without know who the sender, who it’s safe to click links or not. So they facing a lot of issues, and they facing a lot of phishing and hacking in their forms. And especially in the global south, and like a traditional community, it’s not easy to facing something like this. For example, if someone take my like private photos or videos, maybe something it’s lead to killing this women in the global south, unfortunately. So it’s a life matter. It’s not like, for example, in the other countries. So another case in Amina region as a study of the UN women, that 60% of the women in Amina region facing online violence, and this is a high rate. Another example, 80% women in Lebanon facing a violence online, even harassment, even blackmail, even hate speech. Especially women, they are working in a critical roles in politics. They are facing the hate speech, who look, they wanna voting for her and something like a lot of things. Let me take, so this is the issue, and this is why it’s matter. So what we can do? We can do like searching for solutions, depending on three levels. On the government levels, they build like a suitable local laws in each country that help women to take their rights or to know what they have to do if they have issues, have a risk, where I have to go, who can help me. Even the psychologist thinks on the women when they are facing, they are afraid to speak about these issues because in the community that if you speak about some like, for example, if you’re facing sexual online like a threat, if you speak there, you have a question marks and the community look at you. So this is like also one of the points. We miss this supporting. Also the tech company, they do not have like the supporting like steps or guides in the local languages, especially in the global south. So we need like to establish these like a regional hub that connecting the governments, the tech hub and the NGO. As NGO, what we can do? We can like give the women like awareness sessions in their local languages so they can know even the basic steps, the strong password, the 2FA, how to check the links, the attachments. If she like facing any issue regarding their digital safety, they like find a people who support these women. We’re working on this and we give a lot like of that digital safety like a training in Sudan, in the Middle East, in Iraq and other issues. But unfortunately, regarding to some like problems regarding, for example, to the FATCAN that recently happened, a lot of women, they are now without any digital security support and they have to search about the solutions by themselves. And this is hard for them because they are facing a lot of issues. They are in our countries, they are moving from place to other place. they have a pressure on them especially in their work if they are work as a journalist or human right defenders they have a little bit of knowledge about the technology what about the normal women the normal women they are like stay as a home and they care about the children they do not have any like a little bit of the tech knowledge they’re just using the phone and they’re just clicking on anything and they facing a lot of issues but no one help them I wanted to ask to attend this if anyone know that any platform that like treating this kind of risk in the local languages unfortunately no and this is like like a big issue because there is a resources but they can’t reach it and if I know what I want you should I have a language barrier even for me as a stick person I have a language barrier and sometimes I need to translate the resources to my language to have like a full understanding how like to implement these solutions exactly also I have like as an NGO they are focusing on like some another topics it’s important I know but the digital like safety tips and training awareness it’s not like take that much care from the NGO unfortunately but it is very important I want to also to ask that attendance like especially who are working on the global south is there any regional hub in the global south they are work on this issue yeah can you yeah just one minute like please.

Audience: I’m Lila from Brazil I’m part of trans feminist network of digital care so we do that kind of trainings and everything but in Portuguese for our country only yeah so it’s a local thing for a huge country but that’s it.

Safaa Sarayrah: yeah this is the most important point because she said in I work in only my country what about the other countries within the global South what about the Africa North and South and they have a like a different issues different traditionals even a lot of languages and Alex even in the same country so we need like a solutions we can like for example like innovation to create a like a regional hub for all the global South or even for the countries that have a little bit of common like languages or traditionals and make them like this to like open channel between the governments to make like a suitable laws for the human rights like the women especially the women digital safety rights also as a tech company we encourage them like to establish like a supporting the local languages in their platform so they can help women and normal women with their languages how to know to deal with these issues in the NGO we encourage them to make like more like efforts on these countries especially the countries that like facing a wars like Sudan because Lebanon unfortunately in the Middle East we have a lot of issues unfortunately that’s a little sad things so we need more efforts that specially in the digital safety and we especially in the main region we are facing a lot of hate speech against the women who are working specially in the political things because you are women while you talk in the politics and blah blah blah and these issues I will open the questions or example or any feedback because I wanted to like to hear from you that I’m happy yeah please

Audience: thank you my name is Catherine Muma I’m a senator from Kenya and thank you so much for your presentation and the issues you raise real issues in the global south I would want to know whether you have done any work that helps to define how policy would look like how if we were to put to review our penal laws to include offenses that are committed through the internet and the social media have you and your organization thought through the kind of legislative frameworks and policy frameworks you would want to see governments and parliaments pass for the protection of women I believe it’s protection of women and and children as well.

Safaa Sarayrah: thank you so much for your questions this is important point unfortunately we like do not have like open like a channel between us and the government’s and what we that missed unfortunately but we have like an some negation with the tech company like and Twitter we have a lot of meetings with them about like to creating the suitable policies that are will be fair and good for special countries in the global south but they have as you know it’s a commercial company and we have like their standards we do not hear from them that much but we are keep going to working on this at least we have like it’s not a formal policy we are like as NGO we like establishing policy framework for us for the people who work for the women and children who are working with us and even we are go and giving a like a digital training for any community in the global south we like have a meeting with them understand and make some like resurgent and a pre-assessment to understand all the risk and all like the points that they are care about it so after that pre-assessment we make the policy that fit them specially so what we are working with the special groups with a special civil society but unfortunately we do not have like the big policy framework for like oh even a one country not even for the global south any question or feedback I will happy okay thank you so much and yeah thank you you

Agreement points

Need for comprehensive legislative frameworks to address digital crimes against women and children

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Senator Catherine Muma)

Arguments

There is a need for suitable local laws in each country to help women understand their rights and where to seek help

Governments and parliaments should review penal laws to include internet and social media offenses for protecting women and children

Summary

Both speakers agree that current legal frameworks are inadequate and need to be updated to specifically address digital crimes and provide clear pathways for protection and justice for women and children facing online threats.

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Gender rights online | Children rights

Fragmented nature of current digital safety efforts limits effectiveness

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Lila from Brazil)

Arguments

Current efforts are fragmented, with organizations working only within their own countries rather than collaboratively across the Global South

Local organizations like the trans feminist network in Brazil provide training only in Portuguese for their country

Summary

Both speakers acknowledge that while local efforts exist, they are limited to individual countries and lack regional coordination, which reduces their overall impact and effectiveness.

Topics

Gender rights online | Capacity development | Multilingualism

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers recognize the gap between NGO work and government policy-making, with the need for better coordination to develop effective legislative frameworks for digital safety.

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Senator Catherine Muma)

Arguments

NGOs lack formal channels with governments to develop comprehensive policy frameworks, working instead with specific groups and communities

Governments and parliaments should review penal laws to include internet and social media offenses for protecting women and children

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Human rights principles | Gender rights online

Both speakers understand the critical importance of providing digital safety resources and training in local languages, though they also recognize the limitations of country-specific approaches.

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Lila from Brazil)

Arguments

Most digital safety resources are in English, creating barriers for women who speak local languages

Local organizations like the trans feminist network in Brazil provide training only in Portuguese for their country

Topics

Multilingualism | Gender rights online | Capacity development

Unexpected consensus

Cross-sector collaboration necessity

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Senator Catherine Muma)

Arguments

A regional hub connecting governments, tech companies, and NGOs is needed to support women in the Global South

Governments and parliaments should review penal laws to include internet and social media offenses for protecting women and children

Explanation

It’s notable that both a grassroots digital safety trainer and a government senator independently recognize the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration, suggesting broad consensus across different levels of governance and civil society about the inadequacy of siloed approaches.

Topics

Gender rights online | Legal and regulatory | Data governance

Overall assessment

Summary

There is strong consensus among speakers on the severity of digital safety challenges facing women in the Global South, the inadequacy of current support systems, the critical importance of language accessibility, and the need for comprehensive multi-stakeholder solutions involving governments, tech companies, and NGOs.

Consensus level

High level of consensus with complementary perspectives – the speakers approach the issues from different angles (grassroots training, government policy, local implementation) but arrive at similar conclusions about problems and solutions. This suggests the issues are well-understood across different stakeholder groups and creates a strong foundation for collaborative action. The consensus spans technical, legal, linguistic, and institutional dimensions of the problem.

Different viewpoints

Scope of digital safety initiatives – national vs regional approach

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Lila from Brazil)

Arguments

Current efforts are fragmented, with organizations working only within their own countries rather than collaboratively across the Global South

Local organizations like the trans feminist network in Brazil provide training only in Portuguese for their country

Summary

Safaa advocates for broader regional coordination across the Global South, while the Brazilian representative describes their work as intentionally limited to their own country with Portuguese-only resources. This represents different philosophies about whether digital safety work should be localized or regionalized.

Topics

Gender rights online | Capacity development | Multilingualism

Unexpected differences

Effectiveness of current localized approaches vs need for regional coordination

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Lila from Brazil)

Arguments

Current efforts are fragmented, with organizations working only within their own countries rather than collaboratively across the Global South

Local organizations like the trans feminist network in Brazil provide training only in Portuguese for their country

Explanation

This disagreement is unexpected because both speakers work on the same issue (women’s digital safety) in Global South contexts, yet they have fundamentally different approaches. The Brazilian representative seems content with country-specific work, while Safaa sees this as a problematic fragmentation. This suggests a deeper philosophical divide about whether digital safety solutions should be localized or coordinated regionally.

Topics

Gender rights online | Capacity development | Multilingualism

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion shows minimal direct disagreement, with most tension arising around implementation approaches rather than fundamental goals. The main areas of difference involve the scope of initiatives (national vs regional) and the pathways to policy development (grassroots vs institutional).

Disagreement level

Low to moderate disagreement level. The speakers largely agree on the problems and general solutions needed, but differ on implementation strategies and scope. This suggests that while there is consensus on the urgency of women’s digital safety issues in the Global South, there are legitimate debates about the most effective approaches to address them. The implications are positive – the shared understanding of problems provides a foundation for collaboration, while the different approaches could be complementary rather than contradictory.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Both speakers recognize the gap between NGO work and government policy-making, with the need for better coordination to develop effective legislative frameworks for digital safety.

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Senator Catherine Muma)

Arguments

NGOs lack formal channels with governments to develop comprehensive policy frameworks, working instead with specific groups and communities

Governments and parliaments should review penal laws to include internet and social media offenses for protecting women and children

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Human rights principles | Gender rights online

Both speakers understand the critical importance of providing digital safety resources and training in local languages, though they also recognize the limitations of country-specific approaches.

Speakers

– Safaa Sarayrah
– Audience (Lila from Brazil)

Arguments

Most digital safety resources are in English, creating barriers for women who speak local languages

Local organizations like the trans feminist network in Brazil provide training only in Portuguese for their country

Topics

Multilingualism | Gender rights online | Capacity development

Key takeaways

Women in the Global South face severe digital safety challenges including online violence, harassment, blackmail, and hate speech, with statistics showing 60% of women in MENA region and 80% in Lebanon experiencing online violence

Language barriers are a critical obstacle preventing women from accessing digital safety resources and reporting mechanisms, as most resources are only available in English

Digital threats in traditional communities can escalate to physical violence or death, making this a life-or-death issue rather than just an online concern

There is a significant knowledge gap regarding basic digital security practices like two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and safe link verification among women in the Global South

Current support systems are fragmented and inadequate, with no clear channels for women to seek help when facing digital threats

Cross-border collaboration between governments, tech companies, and NGOs is essential but currently lacking in addressing these challenges systematically

Resolutions and action items

Establish regional hubs that connect governments, tech companies, and NGOs to support women’s digital safety across the Global South

Create digital safety resources and platform guides in local languages to overcome language barriers

Develop suitable local laws in each country to help women understand their rights and access help

Encourage tech companies to provide better support for local languages on their platforms

Increase NGO focus and efforts on digital safety training and awareness programs

Conduct pre-assessments with communities to understand specific risks and create tailored policy frameworks

Unresolved issues

How to establish formal channels between NGOs and governments for policy development

How to overcome tech companies’ commercial priorities that limit their responsiveness to Global South needs

How to address the lack of existing platforms providing digital safety support in local languages

How to create comprehensive legislative frameworks that include internet and social media offenses

How to scale local efforts (like Brazil’s Portuguese-language training) to cover the diverse languages and cultures across the Global South

How to provide adequate support for women displaced by wars and conflicts who face additional vulnerabilities

Suggested compromises

Working with specific groups and communities to create tailored policy frameworks when broader governmental collaboration is not available

Continuing negotiations with tech companies despite limited success, maintaining dialogue even when commercial standards conflict with advocacy goals

Focusing on countries with common languages or traditions as a starting point for regional collaboration rather than attempting to address all Global South countries simultaneously

For example, if someone take my like private photos or videos, maybe something it’s lead to killing this women in the global south, unfortunately. So it’s a life matter. It’s not like, for example, in the other countries.

Speaker

Safaa Sarayrah

Reason

This comment is profoundly insightful because it reframes digital safety from a convenience or privacy issue to a literal life-or-death matter. It highlights how cultural contexts in the Global South can escalate digital violations into physical violence, challenging Western-centric perspectives on online harassment that may view it as less severe.

Impact

This comment established the gravity and urgency of the entire discussion, shifting it from a technical problem to a human rights crisis. It provided the emotional and moral foundation that justified all subsequent calls for action and collaboration.

Most of the resources are in English, or in other language… They do not know how, for example, to report a harassment on the platform. They do not know.

Speaker

Safaa Sarayrah

Reason

This observation is thought-provoking because it exposes a fundamental barrier that is often overlooked in digital safety discussions – linguistic accessibility. It reveals how language barriers create a systemic exclusion that leaves vulnerable populations without basic protective tools.

Impact

This comment introduced a concrete, actionable dimension to the discussion, moving beyond abstract calls for help to specific solutions like multilingual platforms and localized resources. It provided a clear pathway for tech companies and NGOs to make immediate improvements.

I’m Lila from Brazil I’m part of trans feminist network of digital care so we do that kind of trainings and everything but in Portuguese for our country only yeah so it’s a local thing for a huge country but that’s it.

Speaker

Lila (Audience member)

Reason

This brief response is insightful because it perfectly illustrates the fragmentation problem Safaa described. It shows how even well-intentioned efforts remain isolated and limited in scope, unable to address the broader regional challenges.

Impact

Lila’s comment served as a crucial validation and real-world example of Safaa’s thesis. It transformed the discussion from theoretical to practical, demonstrating both that solutions exist and that they are insufficient in scale. This prompted Safaa to elaborate on the need for regional coordination.

I would want to know whether you have done any work that helps to define how policy would look like… have you and your organization thought through the kind of legislative frameworks and policy frameworks you would want to see governments and parliaments pass for the protection of women

Speaker

Catherine Muma (Senator from Kenya)

Reason

This question is particularly thought-provoking because it comes from someone with actual legislative power, shifting the conversation from advocacy to potential implementation. It challenges the NGO perspective by asking for concrete policy solutions rather than just problem identification.

Impact

Senator Muma’s question created a pivotal moment that exposed a critical gap – the lack of formal channels between civil society and government. Safaa’s response revealed that despite extensive grassroots work, there’s insufficient connection to policy-making processes. This highlighted the need for better advocacy strategies and government engagement.

Unfortunately we like do not have like open like a channel between us and the government’s and what we that missed unfortunately

Speaker

Safaa Sarayrah

Reason

This admission is remarkably candid and insightful because it acknowledges a fundamental weakness in the current approach to digital safety advocacy. It reveals how civil society organizations may be working in isolation from the very institutions that could implement systemic change.

Impact

This honest response shifted the discussion toward structural problems in advocacy and governance. It highlighted that technical solutions and training, while important, are insufficient without policy frameworks and government support. This comment underscored the need for more strategic approaches to engaging with power structures.

Overall assessment

These key comments collectively transformed what could have been a standard presentation about digital safety into a nuanced exploration of systemic barriers, cultural contexts, and structural challenges. Safaa’s framing of digital safety as a life-or-death issue established the moral urgency, while her observations about language barriers provided concrete solutions. The audience interventions – particularly from Lila and Senator Muma – served as reality checks that both validated and challenged Safaa’s perspective. Lila’s example demonstrated the limitations of current efforts, while Senator Muma’s policy-focused question exposed the gap between grassroots work and institutional change. Together, these comments created a comprehensive picture of both the problems and potential pathways forward, elevating the discussion from awareness-raising to strategic planning for systemic change.

Is there any platform that is treating digital safety risks in local languages for women in the Global South?

Speaker

Safaa Sarayrah

Explanation

This is crucial because language barriers prevent women from accessing digital safety resources and reporting harassment on platforms, leaving them vulnerable to online violence

Is there any regional hub in the Global South that works on women’s digital safety issues?

Speaker

Safaa Sarayrah

Explanation

Regional coordination is needed to address the fragmented support system where organizations work only within their own countries, leaving gaps in coverage across the Global South

How can policy frameworks be defined to review penal laws to include internet and social media offenses against women?

Speaker

Catherine Muma (Senator from Kenya)

Explanation

There is a need for legislative frameworks that specifically address digital violence against women and children, but current policy development lacks clear direction

What kind of legislative frameworks and policy frameworks should governments and parliaments pass for the protection of women online?

Speaker

Catherine Muma (Senator from Kenya)

Explanation

Specific policy recommendations are needed to guide lawmakers in creating effective legal protections for women facing digital violence

How can channels be opened between governments, tech companies, and NGOs to create systematic support for women in the Global South?

Speaker

Safaa Sarayrah

Explanation

The lack of formal collaboration between these key stakeholders is identified as a major barrier to addressing women’s digital safety comprehensively

How can tech companies be encouraged to provide support in local languages on their platforms?

Speaker

Safaa Sarayrah

Explanation

Most digital safety resources and platform support are only available in English or major languages, creating barriers for women who speak local languages in the Global South

How can regional hubs be created to connect countries with common languages or traditions in the Global South?

Speaker

Safaa Sarayrah

Explanation

Current efforts are fragmented by country, but regional coordination could provide more comprehensive support for women facing similar challenges across borders