Women encounter a toxic internet that robs their voice- Shreen Saroor

Men and women experience the internet differently. Women experience a more gendered, sexualized and stereotypical internet where there is more judgement than encouragement, particularly for women in public life.

Joining CIR’s Dilrukshi Handunnetti on “Her Pulse’, to discuss the experiences of women politicians in Sri Lanka’s North and the East, Shreen Abdul Saroor, co-founder of Women’s Action Network (WAN), human rights defender and feminist, spoke about the extra layers of discrimination and hate online that targets women who are already marginalised due to ethnicity, religion, geography, caste and other factors.

WAN has its own small team to monitor sexualised and hateful content targeting women and to inform relevant authorities, including tech giants, about gender-based attacks online carrying potential offline risks. Furthermore, when women are attacked, WAN created alternative or positive narratives in response to hate.

Saroor also welcomed the political changes that took place following the 2022 protest movement, better known as ‘Aragalaya’ which has opened the space for women to better engage in politics. She also noted that having a woman prime minister, even though ‘by chance,’ has inspired other women to find their confidence to dabble in politics, a development that is compelling the patriarchal political parties to evolve, including the more rigid minority political outfits.

“ It will be a welcome change to find at least about 15% women in the next parliament. But it will be truly inclusive and presentative when the House has 113 women parliamentarians or even more,” said Saroor.

In this four-part series, CIR takes a deeper look at disinformation, online hate and women’s representation. The “Her Pulse” series is produced by SHE Digital, Sri Lanka’s first YouTube platform dedicated to women.