Back International Consultant to Conduct Trainings on Combatting Technology-facilitated Gender-Based Violence in Politics and Public Life

Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, the empowerment of women, and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security. UN Women Georgia Country Office (CO) provides technical support to the state and non-state partners towards the achievement of substantive gender equality in Georgia. In line with national and international commitments, UN Women works on the levels of policies and legislation, institutions and grassroots, in order to achieve transformative results for increased gender equality and greater protection of the rights of women and girls. UN Women puts special emphasis on the work towards gender mainstreaming in good governance reforms and enhancing women’s political participation, ending violence against women, promoting and supporting women’s economic empowerment, and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

The equal participation of women and men in politics, and opportunities for women’s leadership at all levels of decision-making, have been globally acknowledged as vital contributors to more prosperous and stable societies in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development .  There has been progress: more women than ever hold public office and engage in electoral processes as staff, voters, candidates, or campaigners. Yet, from the local to the global level, women’s political participation and leadership are restricted. Women are underrepresented as voters, as well as in leading positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector and the academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in democratic processes.

Women encounter numerous obstacles when they exercise their political rights, one of these obstacles being violence against women in politics (VAWP). VAWP occurs in all corners of the globe,  including in Georgia—as extensively documented by the recent 2022 UN Women National Study on Violence against Women in Politics in Georgia. As digital technology mediates more and more of our daily lives, VAWP is also being manifested in the online world and is frequently used against women in politics and in public life. Such violence is referred to as technology-facilitated gender-based violence against women in politics (TFGBV against women in politics) is spreading rapidly and changing constantly as new technologies emerge, impacting every aspect of digital governance and causing laws and policies to lag behind. It is a common cybersecurity risk, leading to data breaches, identity thefts and the creation of deepfakes.  As one of the most common forms of human rights abuses online, it is closely linked to the spread of AI-powered sexist hate speech and gendered disinformation and misinformation. TFGBV against women in politics is very difficult to measure and address because of the speed with which it is perpetrated, the typically anonymous status of perpetrators, and the lack of response or sanction on the part of social media companies. Women in politics are increasingly harassed online by politically motivated ‘trolls’ and ‘bots’ that spread deceptive or inaccurate information and images against women political leaders and public figures, often using misogynistic storylines – a phenomenon known as “gender disinformation  It usually exploits gender norms to influence political outcomes via campaigns that may include fabricated narratives, threats, and sexually provocative or degrading imagery. The primary objective of these assaults is to portray female politicians and politically active women as intrinsically untrustworthy, lacking intelligence, or excessively emotional or lascivious to occupy office or engage in democratic politics. This skews public perception of women's accomplishments and deters women from participating in political and public life.

Given the public nature of their roles, women candidates for office, politicians, political party members and supporters, voters, government officials, civil society representatives, activists, human rights advocates, journalists, and social leaders are mostly susceptible to being targeted by TFGBV.  Such violence infringes upon women's human rights, not only by limiting their right to live free from gender-based violence, but by deterring their right to engage in peaceful activities, and the right to freedom of expression and opinion. It exerts a detrimental influence on women's political engagement both currently and prospectively, as the observation or experience of TFGBV may dissuade girls and young women from seeking public roles and diminish their involvement in civic and political discourse.  Awareness of the significance, prevalence, and substantial effects of TFGBV against women in politics on gender equality and the effective and peaceful functioning of democracies is increasing globally among professionals and advocates engaged in the domain of VAW in offline environments. The increasing attention from all stakeholders to this form of violence is required to enhance resources and knowledge and to develop more effective response strategies to combat TFGBV against women in politics  .

Within the framework of its Governance and Participation in Public Life (G&PPL) portfolio, UN Women Georgia Country Office in partnership with UNDP and OHCHR and with the generous support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, is implementing a UN Joint Programme (JP) “Support to Georgia’s 2024 Parliamentary Elections.” Within the framework of the JP, UN Women intends to increase the national stakeholders’ knowledge and capacities to counter TFGBV against women in politics. In this connection, UN Women Georgia seeks to engage an international consultant to address knowledge gaps and provide capacity development trainings for civil society organizations, activists and media on TFGBV against women in politics with specific focus on gender disinformation. The primary aim of the consultancy is to enhance digital literacy among stakeholders to recognize, monitor, and mitigate the effects of TFGBV and gender disinformation particularly in the context of women’s political participation. The consultant will be reporting to the G&PPL Program Specialist and the G&PPL Project Analyst and will be supported by the G&PPL Project Assistant, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The international consultant will be responsible to:
•     Design digital literacy trainings materials to counter hate speech and gender disinformation in the context of elections and women's political participation
•     Conduct and facilitate trainings on hate speech and gender disinformation in the context of elections and women's political participation for UN Women CO Georgia staff, civil society, and media representatives   

Deliverables:

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel
This consultancy requires presence at the training location – Tbilisi, Georgia, which the consultant is required to attend and facilitate.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Core Competencies:

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

•     Technical credibility in policy research  
•     Technical credibility in legislative analysis 
•     Business acumen
•     Negotiation 
•     Partnerships building 

Required Qualifications:

Education and Certification:

•     Master's degree or equivalent in Sociology, Political Science, Communications, Journalism, or a related field is required.
•     A first-level university degree, in combination with seven additional years of qualifying experience, may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:
•     At least five years in case of master’s or 7 years with a bachelor’s degree of demonstrated work experience in gender equality, violence against women in politics, human rights, democracy, development, or a related field
•     Experience in digital literacy with a focus on gender misinformation, hate speech, or related fields would be a strong asset 
•     Experience in conducting capacity development trainings/workshops would be a strong asset.

Languages:
•     Fluency in English is required.

How to Apply:

Statements:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)