By Suzan Edeh
Students of the Abubakar Tatari Polytechnic (ATAP) Bauchi, have been trained on Digital rigths, online Gender violence and internet security and Safety.
The Participants at the training were drawn from the Higher National Diploma(HND) Department of Mass Communication of the institution.
The training for the students which is a step-down, is coming on the heels of a workshop organized by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), supported by Association for Progressive Communications (APC), held in Damaturu, Yobe State, Nigeria in October 2022.
Declaring the training open at the news room of the Mass Communication Department, the lead facilitator of the training and a digital champion, Suzan Edeh said that objective of the training was enlighten students on the need for them to be aware of their digital rigths and know when it is being abused while using the internet.
She said that online Gender violence and harassment are digital rigths abuses that are often overlooked in discussions of violence against women, adding that a woman inability to feel safe online is a great barrier to her freedom as well as her basic human rigths.
” Now that the internet has become an increasingly important part of human life and a critical space for marginalized population to make their voices heard, the use of internet and it’s facilities for every woman across the globe is inevitable”
“Research has proven that the worst online harassment include attacks, name calling to include stalking and sexual harassment are extremely targeted at women and this harassment can happen to woman so long as she is online using the internet.Therefore, a lot of women are blocked from unlimited opportunities the internet offers due to the voice problems associated to the internet” she said
Speaking on what digital rigths are, a Human Rigth Activist and a WASH Media Advocate, Mr David Ayodele defined digital rigths as those human rigths and legal rigths that allow individuals to access, use, create and publish digital media or use computers and other electronic device without any intimidation or hindrance.
He said that Digital access is the ability to fully participate in digital society which includes access to tools and technologies, such as the Internet and computers, that allow for full participation, pointing out that unfortunately, not everyone has complete digital access and therefore, are not able to fully participate in digital society.
He listed some of the challenges of freedom of expression online to include the blocking, filtering and removal of content by internet intermediaries on behalf of government outside of regulatory or legislative provisions and with little transparency or accountability.
Some of the participants, Jamila Alhassan, Suleiman Abdulmumuni and patience Julius interviewed expressed happiness over the training, saying that it was impactful, engaging and enlightening.The participants made contributions, shared experiences, asked questions and expressed their readiness to be cascade the knowledge acquired at the training to their colleagues.