gisw13_chapters

– it is necessary that the laws are enforced for all womento gain access to a life free of violence.The most significant public policies designedto improve and expand connectivity and the useof ICTs in the country in order to promote the participationof women on the internet, encourage atechnological culture and facilitate the conditionsfor the exercise of women’s rights include:• Establishing the use of the internet as a policypriority for the country’s development, in orderto provide universal access, as established inDecree 825. 19• The creation of projects, plans and programmesthat promote the use of technology and knowledgeand integrate these into the Simon BolívarNational Project, 20 which marks the strategiclines of development for the country, such as theNational Plan for Technological Literacy (PNAT), 21the Science Mission, 22 Infocentros, 23 the BolivarianCentre for Informatics and Telematics, 24 andthe Virtual Libraries programme, among others.Currently over a million and a half Venezuelanshave been trained under the PNAT. 25• The promotion of gender equality and empowermentthrough the following plans: the NationalPlan of Equality for Women, the Plan for thePrevention and Treatment of Violence againstWomen, and the Plan for Strengthening the Socio-PoliticalParticipation of Women. 26With regard to the participation of women in the defenceof their rights, in recent years opportunitieshave been created. In particular, a number of civilsociety groups have used the internet 27 to establishmechanisms to defend women’s rights, inform, educateand denounce gender violence. These includePROVEA, 28 the Forum for Life, 29 the Venezuelan Observatoryon Women’s Human Rights (OVDHM), 3019 www.cecalc.ula.ve/internetprioritaria/decreto825.html20 www.cendit.gob.ve/uploaded/pdf/Proyecto_Nacional_Simon_Bolivar.pdf21 www.fundacite-anz.gob.ve/documentos/Plan_Nacional_de_Alfabetizacion_Tecnologica.pdf22 gobiernoenlinea.gob.ve/home/misiones_detalle.dot23 www.infocentro.gob.ve/index.php?id=9124 fundabit.me.gob.ve25 pnat.infocentro.gob.ve/vistas/docs/ReporteAlfabetizacionPNAFT_010113_300413.pdf26 www.pnud.org.ve/content/view/17627 Including websites, blogs, and social networking platforms such asTwitter.28 Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos.www.derechos.org.ve/informe-anual-201229 foroporlavida.blogspot.com/2013_04_01_archive.html30 observatoriomujeres2006.blogspot.comGender with Class, 31 Venezuela Now, 32 the AnaSoto Women’s Movement, 33 Women in Black, 34 theCouncils for the Defence of Human Rights, 35 and theReflections of Venezuela Foundation. 36 Initiativesby individuals have also emerged, such as thoseby Martha Colmenares, 37 who made allegations ofviolations against women in cases which becamesymbolic of the struggle for equal rights. There arealso civil society organisations such as Aliados enCadena 38 that promote the integral developmentof women through ICTs. This is an indication of theimportance of the participation of women in onlinespaces and the importance of ICTs in the diffusion,promotion and dissemination of information thatseeks to open spaces for the defence of their rights.According to a study by Digital Trends, 39 internetpenetration in Venezuela is currently 40%, whichmeans 11.6 million people are online, of whom 46%are women and 54% are men. The study also revealsthat 9.7 million Venezuelans are connected toFacebook. This suggests a 33% penetration of thesocial network. It also suggests the importance ofestablishing channels of communication using socialnetworks.Given the political and social dynamics, Venezuelanwomen have developed – or supportedthe development of – legal instruments to dignifytheir working conditions, defend their rights andfreedoms, and actively participate through ICTs.However, in practice the delays in handling complaints,lack of evidence, lack of legal advice forvictims, little public data on violence against women,and bureaucracy, among other factors, makegender-rights processes ineffective. Most genderviolence remains unpunished.Between 2006 and 2010, INPSASEL 40 recognisedsix complaints of mobbing from a total of 1,855complaints – a significantly low number. These sixcomplaints of mobbing came from reports by civilservants over 30 years of age assigned to public institutionssuch as the Venezuelan state-owned oil31 generoconclase.blogspot.com/2013/02/venezuela-colectivosdenunciaron.html32 venezuelaahora.blogspot.com/2011/09/fiscalia-crea-direccionpara-la-defensa.html33 movimientodemujeresanasoto.blogspot.com34 venezuela-mujeresdenegro.blogspot.com35 consejosparaladefensa.blogspot.com/2013/05/el-morral-de-losderechos.html36 www.fundacionreflejosdevenezuela.com/index.php37 www.marthacolmenares.com/2010/04/22/cifra-de-violenciacontra-la-mujer-se-estima-en-100-mil-casos-en-un-ano38 www.rsevenezuela.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2365&Itemid=2439 www.tendenciasdigitales.com/1433/la-penetracion-de-interneten-venezuela-alcanza-40-de-la-poblacion40 www.aporrea.org/ddhh/n153835.html238 / Global Information Society Watch