BPF Gender & Access

BPF Gender & Access, is an initiative started within the IGF in 2015. BPFs such as BPF Gender were created to produce more tangible benefits and influence within the IGF and global Internet governance and policy.

2015 Work

BPF Gender's first intersessional activity in 2015 was dedicated to online abuse and gender-based violence. At the IGF MAGmeeting in Geneva, Switzerland (May 2016), participants analyzed the progress of BPF's 2015 initiatives. The meeting concluded with a unanimous commitment to continued intersessional work and the study of gender-based challenges on and within the Internet.

BPF Gender produced a comprehensive report of its findings and achieved this through a bottom-up process involving a diversity of stakeholders within Internet governance. Members completed and disseminated a survey, attended virtual group meetings, and developed multiple drafts for comments and research purposes.

At the IGF 2015 conference held in João Pessoa, Brazil, BPF Gender held a 90-minute session lead by Jac Kee to discuss the its findings and recommendations for further research.

2016 Goals

• build on and improve the outcomes of the 2015 BPF Gender, which focused on online abuse and gender-based violence against women, and
• investigate women’s access to the Internet (or the gender digital divide).

Current BPF Gender Coordinators

• Renata Aquino Ribeiro
• Anri van der Spuy
• Jac SM Kee

Internet Governance Forum