25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Digital violence is real violence. #NoExcuse for online abuse

This 25 November, Rios Sangiao wants to join in the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women because dates like this provide an opportunity to raise awareness among the general public about issues such as human rights, sustainable development, health and gender-based violence.

Despite the progress made in recent years, gender-based violence is still one of the most widespread and generalised human rights violations in the world. Almost one in three women have been victims of physical and/or sexualviolence at least once in their lives, which makes it necessary to raise awareness of this problem, accept it as a reality in our society and take the necessary measures to eradicate it.

This year, the theme for 2025 is "UNITE to end digital violence against women and girls".

This year, the campaign for the Day Against Gender Violence focuses on the digital environment. Gender-based violence on online platforms is a serious and rapidly growing threat due to weak technological regulation, a lack of legal recognition of this type of aggression in some countries, the impunity of platforms due to their delocalisation, new and rapid forms of abuse using AI, movements opposed to gender equality, the anonymity of aggressors and the lack of support for digital victims.

Forms of harassment or abuse on digital platforms include:

• Misuse of images or non-consensual sharing of intimate images, often referred
  to as revenge porn or nude leaks.
• Cyberbullying, trolling, and online threats.
• Online harassment and sexual harassment;
• Falsification of images using artificial intelligence (AI): sexually explicit
  images, fake pornography, and digitally manipulated images, videos, or
  audio recordings;
• Hate speech and disinformation on platforms;
• Doxing: publication of private information;
• Hate speech and misinformation on platforms;
• Online harassment, surveillance or tracking to monitor a person's
  activities;
• Online sexual recruitment and exploitation;
• Identity theft;
• Misogynistic networks, such as the macho sphere or incel forums;

These acts are often not limited to digital environments, but are also reproduced in physical environments in the form of coercion, abuse and even femicide.

At Rios Sangiao, in addition to joining the United Nations Organisation to raise awareness of this problem, we have implemented training on equality for our staff and middle management. We also have a specific protocol for dealing with cases of gender-based violence.

This protocol designates a person within the company who is responsible for managing cases of harassment and establishes the means for processing complaints, defining the maximum time frames for each of the management phases, which include investigating the facts, auditing the people involved,
generating a report and making decisions based on the conclusions.

We are convinced that if we all take a clear stand against this problem, we will reduce cases of violence and harassment and move towards a more just and equal society.