By: Grace Fyfe
This policy memorandum highlights the increasing prevalence of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) in Panamá, especially against women in politics. It offers recommendations to ensure the Ministry of Women, civil society, and tech companies actively participate in solving this problem.
Background
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) has become an increasingly prevalent concern for women, gender minorities, and even men in recent years. The International Center for Research on Women defines TFGBV as an “action by one or more people that harms others based on their sexual or gender identity or by enforcing harmful gender norms. This action is carried out using the Internet and/or mobile technology and includes stalking, bullying, sexual harassment, defamation, hate speech, and exploitation” (ICRW, 2018). In 2021, the overall prevalence rate of online violence against women globally (including women with personal experiences and witness experiences) was over 80% (The Economist, 2021).
TFGBV has detrimental effects on women’s involvement in politics and their agency within the public sphere as a whole. Worldwide, 41.8% of women in parliamentary positions worldwide have experienced the spread of extremely humiliating or sexually charged images of themselves through social media (IPU, 2016). Politically active women have repeatedly slowed down, paused, or altogether stopped their social media presence after experiencing online violence (NDI, 2019). The inability of women to express their political opinions and concerns online prevents them from having a voice in policymaking as a whole, especially in the modern political climate.
At the regional level, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) experiences the second-highest rate of TFGBV globally, with an overall prevalence rate of 91% (The Economist, 2021). Panamá is not immune to this growing issue. For example, in 2023, a gender-based violence case was brought against a Panamanian cartoonist to the detriment of the country’s former attorney general (Newsroom Panamá, 2023). While the case was decided in the prosecution’s favor, reactions from the public, including influential political figures, made it clear that more progress must be made to eradicate TFGBV in Panamá (Crítica, 2023).
IPANDETEC, a non-profit based in Panama City, has worked to raise awareness and gather data on TFGBV in Central America. Their report on Panamá’s 2024 elections indicates that only 19% of candidates were women (IPANDETEC, 2024). In their review of 34 of those candidates, 2,488 violent comments were found on the candidates’ Instagram posts, and 493 violent comments were found on X posts. Furthermore, 25% of such comments across platforms were targeted at one candidate in particular (IPANDETEC, 2024). Panamanian women in politics have been severely subjected to TFGBV, necessitating a more significant response from the country’s governing bodies.
Countless international, regional, and national policies and programs have responded to the risk of this phenomenon. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) emphasizes the role gender-based violence plays in pushing women out of politics. In addition, Article 3 of the Belém do Pará Convention (also known as The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women) explicitly states that every woman has the right to be free from violence in both the public and private spheres (OAS, 1994). Panamá’s Ley (law) 82 adopts preventative measures against violence against women and reforms the penal code to classify femicide and punish acts of violence against women. Additionally, Ley 184 aims to prevent, punish, and eradicate political violence against women.
Notably, Panamá has been a regional leader in finding policy-based solutions to TFGBV. In November of 2024, the National Assembly, Ministry of Women, and members of civil society organized Building Safe, Inclusive, and Violence-Free Digital Spaces, a meeting aimed at promoting the digital empowerment of women and recognizing the potential for technology to amplify their political participation as well as its role in perpetuating GBV. The Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) hosted meetings in Panama City to present and gather input on a draft Inter-American Model Law to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence against Women.
Still, the country must take a stronger stance on TFGBV and GBV. Accessibility to official data on gender-based violence (GBV) in Panamá is relatively limited. A majority of widely available data focuses on intimate-partner violence (IPV) and femicide. UN Women estimates the lifetime rate of physical and/or sexual IPV in Panamá to be at a rate of 14.4%. However, the data the UN relies on comes from reports published in 2009 and 2011. Experts have pointed out that while Panamá has made great legal strides in combatting GBV, data collection has yet to be unified at the public level (Santamaria et al., 2019). Without this general data on GBV, as well as data on other specific manifestations such as TFGBV, it becomes challenging to understand the causes and impacts of this violence.
Recommendations
Data Collection and Dissemination: The Ministry has made strengthening institutions one of its key efforts, including strengthening gendered indicators. The Ministry of Women should thus expand and streamline its collection and dissemination of data on GBV within Panamá.
- Data Collection. A deliberate effort should be made to collect sex-disaggregated data on TFGBV in the country and share that data with relevant national, regional, and international institutions (i.e., the OAS and the UN).
- Revitalize Institutions.This could be further supported by the revitalization of the Informe Nacional Clara González, Situación de la Mujer Panameña, which appears to only provide information through 2016.
- More Funding. Collaboration with and funding of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like IPANDETEC may aid in collecting and disseminating this data.
Legal Protections: The Ministry of Women should explore the possibility of expanding the legal protections for victims of GBV to include violence that is facilitated by technology.
- Leverage Laws. Ley 82 and Ley 184 already provide a strong basis for these legal protections. The existence of such laws should be leveraged in order to persuade the National Assembly to take up such an effort.
- Civil Society Inclusion. NGOs, survivors of TFGBV, and gender experts should be consulted in creating such legal protections. Ensuring that laws are trauma-informed creates a basis for stronger responses and eventual prevention.
- Inter-American Consultation. Consultations with MESECVI and its effort to craft an Inter-American Model Law to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence against Women should continue and work in tandem with this national effort.
Platform Accountability: The Ministry of Women should consider collaborating with major tech companies, including Meta (i.e., Instagram and WhatsApp) and X, to ensure greater accountability in preventing the spread of TFGBV on their platforms.
- More Advocacy. The Ministry should advocate for sharing social media data between companies and vetted researchers to understand systemic risks better and mitigate TFGBV. Users’ privacy should be protected when sharing this data.
- More Tech Funding. Encouraging platforms to provide more substantial psycho-social resources to users could also prove helpful, especially for women in politics. For example, Meta does not appear to provide such resources to journalists, politicians, and women activists.
- More Experts. Calling on platforms to address their gender imbalances may lead to better long-term policies. The Ministry could do so by nominating a Panamanian expert to join Meta’s Global Women’s Safety Expert Advisors, which only includes two experts from LAC.
Community Outreach: The Ministry of Women should ensure that it focuses a considerable amount of its effort on community-based programs that address the root causes of TFGBV.
- Build Tools. Pamphlets provided by the Ministry to Unidad Preventiva Comunitaria (UPC) centers and other community resources (i.e., gyms, hospitals, and schools) should explicitly mention TFGBV as a manifestation of violence against women and GBV on all pamphlets. Creating a separate pamphlet solely focused on TFGBV will also prove effective.
- Create Education Programs. The Ministry should craft programs for school-aged children to respond to TFGBV by focusing on issues like digital literacy and the construction of new masculinities. Collaboration with NGOs like Fundación ProEd and Equimundio will be helpful in the planning and implementation of such programs.
Conclusion
Panamá has the opportunity to be a regional, if not international, leader in the response to Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence. These recommendations align perfectly with the Ministry’s goal to place women’s demands on the public agenda regarding issues like gender based violence, political participation, and empowerment. In collaboration with government entities, civil society, and tech companies, the Ministry can make the Internet safe for all.
About the Author
Grace Fyfe is a recent graduate of The George Washington University, where she studied International Affairs with a concentration in gender and conflict resolution. She has interned with the U.S. Department of State, Americares, and Partners of the Americas, focusing on community building, partnership development, and gender equity. When she’s not researching ways to build safer communities, you can usually find her coaching high school speech and debate.
References
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