Monitored Alarm Systems

If we want to protect girls and women against predators and abuse, we must keep pace with new technology and media

The attempted rape in the last match of Lara Croft and the reports of child abusers using the social gaming site Habbo Hotel has reopened the debate on technology, new media and violence against women. This debate is not new. In mid 2000, a version of Grand Theft Auto was released that allowed players to get healthy and lose money through "transactions" with women in prostitution, and women could be crushed or killed . At launch, there were few calls similar public outcry to boycott the game and banned.

Every time a new game or type of technology is introduced to permit, tolerate or promote without doubt violence against women and girls, the same issues reappear and then disappear, ie : What is the impact of these games in which that use them, what harm is posed to children and society as a whole, and that regulation should or should not be put in place to mitigate potential damage ?

over the years, there have been attempts to control, eliminate or defense of an individual game, instead of considering the broader context. Over the last 12 months: Twitter has been used to name a rape victim, contrary to the law which gives right to anonymity of rape victims, a man was convicted of harassment of his girlfriend, anonymously , online publishing explicit photos of her on the Internet, presented some location-based applications on Facebook allowed people to monitor the whereabouts of his companions at all times, men have been sentenced for sexually exploiting young women who were able to control the purchase of mobile phones and then share the numbers between the group and videos of explicit sex continue to be posted without the consent of women who suffer.

is now stalking through social networks, harassment by text messages or humiliation by video display technology evolves violence against women. The technology also allows those who advocate and use violence against women to meet and share their views, often threatening trolling and columnists who speak out against such violence.

mobile phones to social networking sites, technology has become part of how we live our lives, both good and bad, and this trend shows no sign of slowing. Gender violence is always changing. As a young woman who was harassed by her boyfriend on Facebook said: "It does not need to be near me to see me, makes me cry or hurt myself, so how I can get rid of him? "
Undoubtedly, public awareness and professional risks for women and girls through technology has improved in recent years, but the pace of our response to violations should match the speed in which it occurs, and it is a challenge not yet met.