Empowerment Programs for Women and Young Girls on Cyber Security

• This empowerment programs will offer them the opportunity to lead the cyber security experts to provide educational training women and girls in various government agencies, ministries, departments, and parastatals [Federal & States], not-for-profit organizations, embassies, corporate organizations, financial institutions, IDP Camps, schools, businesses and those in the rural areas on how to improve their cyber hygiene.
• They’ll learn how to better manage digital systems, protect their intellectual property, and improve consumer privacy. They should know the basics for how to protect themselves and the organizations they’re part of.
• Cyber-Wofare Project will encourage, empower and engage women and girls in the digital space to become innovators in STEM fields, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to technology and skills to occupy some of the “17 million computing jobs opening expected to be available globally by 2024”. Through this project, they hope to train 100,000 women and girls within the period of one year (s) in each of the 36 states of Nigeria and leading the movement to inspire, educate, equip and bridge the digital divide in the country.

Women and Girls are subjected to various forms of gender-based cyber violence. This violence refers to online behaviour targeting women and girls, intended to intimidate, to coerce, or to cause fear, anxiety, humiliation and extreme emotional distress, which includes but not limited to, cyber stalking, non-consensual pornography (or ‘revenge porn’), distributing child pornography, electronic-enabled human trafficking, Identity theft, fraud ‘financial crimes’, gender-based slurs and harassment, unsolicited pornography, ‘sextortion’, rape and death threats.

As Women and girls are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, they’ve fallen victim to one type or more of digital hijacking; Women in ICT Foundation initiate this project to counteract the threat and help address cybersecurity issues in Nigeria and beyond. Cybercrime is not just a concern for organizations; women and girls need to know what to look for and how to handle it.

This empowerment programs will offer them the opportunity to lead the cyber security experts to provide educational training women and girls in various government agencies, ministries, departments, and parastatals [Federal & States], not-for-profit organizations, embassies, corporate organizations, financial institutions, IDP Camps, schools, businesses and those in the rural areas on how to improve their cyber hygiene.

• The accessibility and convenience of computers, smart-phones, PDA’s and other hand-held devices are unprecedented. As such the Internet has become the number one virtual platform of communication, as its provides a quick and easy reference tools with regards to online community, mobile/Internet banking, social media platforms and other digital platforms for information sharing, these technologies have also become a weapon against women and girls coupled with the existing pandemic of violence against them.
• Women and Girls are subjected to various forms of gender-based cyber violence. This violence refers to online behaviour targeting women and girls, intended to intimidate, to coerce, or to cause fear, anxiety, humiliation and extreme emotional distress, which includes but not limited to, cyber stalking, non-consensual pornography (or ‘revenge porn’), distributing child pornography, electronic-enabled human trafficking, Identity theft, fraud ‘financial crimes’, gender-based slurs and harassment, unsolicited pornography, ‘sextortion’, rape and death threats.

Eligible Countries: Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Egypt, Tunisia, Angola, Rwanda, Morocco and Algeria.