Systemic issues can jeopardize women’s security when artificial intelligence (AI) is adopted, and gender biases across widely used AI systems present a major hurdle to the positive use of AI in the context of peace and security in South-East Asia, according to groundbreaking research released by UN Women and the United Nations University Institute in Macau (UNU Macau).
The research also found that women human rights defenders (WHRDs) and women’s Civil Society Organisations (WCSOs) in the region face a high risk of cyber threats and, while generally aware of these risks, may not be adequately prepared to prevent or actively recover from cyber-attacks.
The research, made possible with support from the Government of Australia under the Cyber and Critical Tech Cooperation Program (CCTCP) of the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Government of the Republic of Korea through the UN Women initiative, Women, Peace and Cybersecurity, is critical to supporting South-East Asian countries in regulating technologies and mitigating their risks, especially as AI is projected to add USD 1 trillion to the region’s gross domestic product by 2030.
Examining AI’s Impact on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
The report, titled Artificial Intelligence and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in South-East Asia, examines the opportunities and risks of AI from the unique perspective of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. It focuses on four types of gender biases in AI – discrimination, stereotyping, exclusion, and insecurity – which need to be addressed before the region can fully benefit from new technological developments. The research examines the relationship between AI and WPS according to three types of AI and its applications: AI for peace, neutral AI, and AI for conflict, noting that across these categories, there are both favorable and unfavorable effects of AI on gender-responsive peace and women’s agency in peace efforts.
While using AI for peace purposes can have multiple benefits, such as improving inclusivity and the effectiveness of conflict prevention and tracking evidence of human rights breaches, it is used unequally between genders, and pervasive gender biases render women less likely to benefit from the application of these technologies. The report also highlights risks related to the use of these technologies for military purposes.
Cybersecurity Threats and Resilience among Women Human Rights Defenders
The second report, Cybersecurity Threats, Vulnerabilities and Resilience among Women Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society in South-East Asia, explores cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities in this context with the goal of promoting cyber-resilience and the human and digital rights of women in all their diversity. While there is increasing awareness of the risks women and girls face in cyberspace, there is little understanding of the impacts of gender on cybersecurity or of the processes and practices used to protect digital systems and networks from cyber risks and their harms.
This work focuses on human-centric as compared to techno-centric cybersecurity, emphasizing human factors rather than technical skills and the centralization of gender as critical to cybersecurity. Furthermore, cyber threats are understood to be gendered in nature, whereby WCSOs and WHRDs are specifically targeted due to the focus of their work and are likely to be attacked with misogynistic and sexualized harassment.
The results highlight that digital technologies are central to the work of WCSOs and WHRDs, while simultaneously noting that WCSOs had higher threat perceptions and threat experiences compared to CSOs that do not work on gender and women’s rights, carrying disproportionate risks of disrupting their work, damaging their reputation, and even creating harm or injury, all of which contribute to marginalizing women’s voices. The largest differences in experienced threats between the groups were for online harassment, trolling, and doxxing.
The report’s recommendations include fostering inclusive and collaborative approaches in cybersecurity policy development and engagement and building the knowledge of civil society, government, private-sector actors, and other decision-makers to develop appropriate means of prevention and response to cyberattacks and their disproportionate impacts on WCSOs and WHRDs. Specific attention should be given to at-risk individuals and organizations, such as women’s groups operating in politically volatile and conflict and crisis-affected contexts and situations where civic space is shrinking.
UNU Macau and UN Women aim for this research, conducted over 12 months, to contribute to the global discourse on ethics and norms surrounding AI and digital governance at large. Next, training materials based on the research findings and consultations with women’s rights advocates in the region will be rolled out, initially in Thailand and Vietnam, with e-learning modules and training handbooks to be publicly available in English, Thai, and Vietnamese for interested stakeholders from mid-2024.
Reports and research summaries
- Artificial Intelligence and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in South-East Asia [Full Report] [Research Summary]
- Cybersecurity Threats, Vulnerabilities and Resilience among Women Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society in South-East Asia [Full Report] [Research Summary]
