Oral statement delivered on 24 September 2026 by Karla Velasco, Association for Progressive Communications, under Item 5 of the Interactive dialogue with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.
Distinguished President,
APC welcomes the recognition that technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is rooted in structural inequalities and exists along a continuum with offline violence. We welcome its call to shift the burden of safety away from individuals, and towards states, tech companies and broader systems of support.
Its recommendations on human rights and safety-by-design, platform accountability, content moderation across languages and regions, and protection of women human rights defenders are important steps forward.
We encourage the Committee and member states, however, to take its analysis of justice further. Systems designed to “protect” can become distinct tools of morality, social order and control.
Having laws does not always mean protection, accountability or justice, especially where institutions are discriminatory, patriarchal or authoritarian.
TFGBV responses must centre survivors’ agency and dignity, be context-focused and intersectional, and include prevention, collective care, repair and civil and corporate accountability.
Current legal frameworks leave little room for a nuanced acknowledgement of consent, particularly for specific groups whose consent is disregarded.
TFGBV requires collective accountability not only for individual harm, but also for the systems, technologies and structures that enable and amplify that harm.
Thank you.