United Nations, (EFE) from this world”.
Guterres expressed this in an opinion forum published on the EuroEFE portal on the occasion of International Women’s Day, which this year the United Nations dedicates to the importance of closing gender gaps in science, technology and innovation.
The head of the United Nations warned about the enormous inequalities that exist in this area, from differences in Internet access, to the problems of female representation in the technology sector, where the number of men doubles that of women and is up to five times greater in the case of artificial intelligence.
“Data intelligence is the new vein that underpins current political and business decisions. However, many times it overlooks gender differences or completely ignores women,” she noted.
According to Guterres, the world should be alarmed by “products and services that embed gender inequality from the start and digitize patriarchy and misogyny”.
“Women’s rights must not succumb in the Silicon Valleys of this world,” insisted the Portuguese diplomat, who called for action on various fronts to “guarantee that women and girls can fully contribute to the global pool of knowledge through Science and technology”.
Specifically, she said, “we must break down the barriers, from discriminatory data to stereotypes that keep girls from studying science subjects from an early age.”
“Decision-makers of all kinds should encourage women’s participation and leadership in science and technology, through quotas if necessary,” she added, stressing that “gender equality will not be achieved on its own; you have to prioritize it and pursue it.”
In addition, Guterres called for measures “to create a safe digital environment for women and hold the perpetrators of cyberabuse, and the digital platforms that protect them, accountable for their actions.”
In this sense, he recalled that discrimination in science and technology “has been forged over centuries of patriarchy, discrimination and harmful stereotypes”, a situation that continues today on the internet, where women “are often targets of hate speech and sexist abuse that seek to silence and intimidate them.”
