You sent sexy pictures to your partner and suddenly they’re all over the internet. Strangers are creeping on you, your family shames you, your friends reject you and your boss fires you. But you’re an adult, and it was a simple consensual act you both enjoyed. Is digital abstinence the only way to keep your sexual images from being broadcast against your will?

 

Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees our right to privacy. The state has a duty to protect and recognise our right to privacy, and this extends to all aspects of our lives, including the digital realm. But governments increasingly insist that we must trade privacy for safety. They say that in order to keep us safe, they must monitor what we do, who we connect with, what we say and so on. They claim to protect our safety rather than our privacy, as though the two are mutually exclusive.

 

In most regions of the world, women spend more time online than men. Even though fewer women have access to digital technology, we blog more, text more and shop online more. Yet our voices continue to be marginalized both online and off.