We exercised PPSEAWA’s consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council to submit to the following Statement for the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
The priority theme for the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women is to ensure and strengthen access to justice for all women and girls. The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association (PPSEAWA) highlights the need for an inclusive and human rights-centered approach to the regulation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Generative Artificial Intelligence presents risks such as an erosion of trust when the authenticity of all information is constantly called into question. The United Nations Children’s Fund, more specifically the UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, found that “generative AI can instantly create text-based disinformation that is indistinguishable from, and more persuasive in swaying people’s opinion than, human-generated content.” The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association calls on Member States to take strong measures to combat misinformation and disinformation, such as regulating the AI-enhanced spread of provocative and unconfirmed information which is informed by algorithms for the purpose of economic gain.
We uphold that digital justice is interconnected with broader equity frameworks. We call for global collaboration found in the Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the Sustainable Development Goals. For example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted a framework of AI Governance and Ethics in 2024, which recognized that the countries are at many, diverse stages of AI readiness. Malaysia’s National AI Roadmap has fairness, safety, transparency, and human benefit to build public trust as core principles.
The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association calls attention to gender bias in the training of AI and the embedding of data that perpetuate and widen gender equality gaps. We need a governance model that addresses gender and racial bias, and stops programming biases that generate harmful stereotypes. The data gap can close through consultation with civil society organizations and gender equality groups to refine methodologies for more inclusive data collection and use.
The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association upholds that AI systems and associated datasets (non-personal and anonymized) should be treated as global digital public goods. At the same time, we recognize that the enforcement of personal data protection is critical for women and girls. The field of digital healthcare requires regulation, because girls and women are vulnerable to online privacy violations such as profiling due to menstrual data, HIV status, or pregnancy history. Access to family planning and contraception can be criminalized. We also must regulate the use of data collected from vulnerable populations (including but not limited to prisoners, trafficking victims, violence survivors, children, undocumented persons) and strengthen data privacy protection. Here, we highlight the stringent ethical standards used in the collection and storage of personal data from exploited children set by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the Foundation ECPAT International (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking in Children for Sexual Purposes).
AI systems can inherit and amplify societal biases against older people as well, potentially leading to discrimination in employment and healthcare access. Older people are at higher risk for online scams and fraud, and identity theft through misuse of AI. The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association supports digital inclusion as part of healthy ageing for older people outlined by the International Technology Union (ITU) and World Health Organization (WHO).
We advocate for safeguards against technology-facilitated gender-based violence found in the European Union’s Directive on Combatting Violence Against Women and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Cyber Crime Convention. The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association advocates for greater regulation of online sexual harassment, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and stalking. Anti-stalking laws can be expanded to include doxing (sharing personal information online without consent) and image-based appropriation such as deepfakes. We call special attention to a great risk for children - exploitative and illegal content such as generative AI that is used to create photo-realistic child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from images taken from public media accounts. We also advocate for the expansion of legislation on digital monitoring without consent and the misuse of tracking devices such as geolocation-based apps and devices such as Bluetooth tags. This type of violence disproportionately impacts women and girls, often hindering their full participation in public life.
The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association calls for the adoption of operational and accountable safeguards for AI use. The Global Digital Compact has a “safety-by-design” standard. We ask technology companies to adopt a Generative AI Safety Approach to ensure the alignment of generative AI behaviour with human values, preventing unintended or harmful outcomes. We ask for stricter standards regarding chatbot features that maximize the engagement of vulnerable communities and children for profit, recognizing there are evidence-based recommendations for healthy and educational screen time use. This is especially necessary in children’s personalized learning environments to protect future generations, and to prevent technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
The expansion of the “manosphere” – an ecosystem of misogynistic content on the Internet - fuels violence against women and girls. We recognize that women with disabilities, indigenous women, women of color, and migrant women face higher risks of technology-facilitated gender-based violence. We support standards set in the Global Digital Compact that encourage companies to be accountable for references to violence, sexually explicit terms, illicit drug use, child sexual abuse, bullying and hate speech on their platforms.
Finally, the Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association advocates for a whole-of-society approach to digital literacy within National Action Plans to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls. We want to stop violence before it starts, so the ethical use of AI and responsible online behaviour should be part of school curriculum. Male advocacy programs are necessary for creating violence-free communities in shown in Fiji’s “National Action Plan to Prevent Violence Against All Women and Girls 2023-2028”. Engaging boys and men in safe spaces online and offline nurtures an overall culture of respect and empathy.
The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association envisions a holistic approach to the governance Generative AI, grounded in inclusive, user-centric design and accountable for the social and economic impacts of its
use.