Bridging the digital divide for LGBTI communities worldwide: Exploring “Accessing connection”

14 February 2024

  • Date: Thursday, 22 February 2024
  • Time: 2:00 – 3:00 PM CET
  • Languages: English, with live interpretation into Spanish and French

Follow this link to register

LGBTI people have found the online space to be revolutionary. It has helped create community, spearhead movements, and provide tools to be heard — including in very hostile environments. However, these possibilities are not equally available for everyone.

Researchers have mapped the complexities of the digital divide across multiple perspectives. However, until now, little to no research existed on the hurdles it poses to LGBTI people.

Accessing Connection, a new pioneering research launched by ILGA World on 20 February, fills this gap, building on data and first-hand accounts of human rights defenders from every region of the world.

There is no single narrative around how LGBTI people access connections, and this webinar will invite you to delve into the stories told in the report. Beyond being just a matter of online connectivity, the digital divide manifests for our communities as a complex interplay of the consequences of economic precarity, online harassment, societal stigma, hostile legislation, lack of inclusive design practices, exclusionary policies, and limitations to freedom of expression – amongst others. And yet, despite the hurdles to digital inclusion, grassroots LGBTI organisations continue implementing resourceful ways to serve their communities — including the least connected among them.

 

Speakers

  • Olivia Johnson, Research Associate at the Engine Room and co-author of the report
  • LGBTI human rights defenders and storytellers who participated in the research project

Moderator

  • Daniele Paletta, Communications Manager at ILGA World and editor of the report

Event organised by

  • ILGA World