Policy recommendations

• Author: European Institute for Gender Equality (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 63-67

6. Policy recommendations

63

Gender equality and youth: opportunities and risks of digitalisation

6. Policy recommendations

(63) EU youth goals incorporated the ideas and opinions of 49 389 young people across the continent who participated in consultations,

debates, discussions and events on the topic Youth in Europe: Whats next?

This chapter presents recommendations on

measures to strengthen gender equality in the

field of youth and digitalisation.

The EU would benefit much from a streng thened

gender perspective in digitalisation policies

The opportunities and threat s of digitalisation to

gender equality are rarely explicitly recognised

in EU policy agendas on digitalisation. Current

initiatives to bring more girls into the ICT sector

and address specific labour-market needs can be

considered an initial step towards gender-aware

policies. EU policy documents and initiatives

such as the digital agenda for Europe, the saf-

er-internet programme, European safer internet

and better internet for kids, Digital education ac-

tion Plan, the EU c ybersecurit y strategy, the Eu-

ropol cybercrime centre, as well as the direc tive

on child pornography and sexual exploitation

could benefit from the following actions.

Establish a baseline and set and monitor

gender-specific targets.

Include awareness-raising sessions with

teachers on the gender aspects of digitalisa-

tion (including gender-based cyber-violence,

reproduction of gender stereotypes in digi-

tal spaces, sexist hate speech, tips on cyber

hygiene) in the European Commissions digi-

tal education agenda.

Update the European code of best practices

for women in ICT to include gender-based cy-

ber-violence.

Strengthen the role of the safer-internet cen-

tres in collecting evidence on the oppor tu-

nities and risks of digitalisation for gender

equality and evaluating the ef fectiveness of

policy measures.

Include various forms of gender-based cy-

ber-violence in the EU definitions of cyber-

crime.

Gender equality needs to become a consistent

and structural part of the future EU youth

strategy and policies

The current EU youth strategy 2010-2018 ad-

dresses gender inequality very narrowl y, only in

relation to the need to combat gender stereo-

types via education and training s ystems. The EU

work plan for youth 2016-2018 does not include

any actions to meet gender-inequality challeng-

es. Equality of all genders and gender-sensitive

approaches in all areas of life of a young person

are prominent goals in young peoples vision for

future youth policy in Europe (63). Young people

acknowledge that gender-based inequalities and

discrimination still affect many young people,

especially young women. They call for polic y ac-

tions to tackle gender-based discrimination and

unequal opportunities in cultural, political and

socioeconomic life; to inves t in raising aware-

ness of gender-based inequalities, particularly

in the media; to combat gender-based violence;

to challenge and eliminate stereotypical gender

roles and embrace diverse gender identities in

education systems, family life, the workplace,

and other areas of life; to address gender-based

structural inequalities and discrimination in the

labour market, including the gender pay gap; to

promote equal sharing of caring work; to ensure

equal access to formal and non-formal educa-

tion, and that the design of education systems

follow gender-sensitive approaches. Structur-

al inclusion of gender-equality perspectives in

youth policies would significantly decrease the

challenges of gender inequality among youth

and engage young women and men in the plan-

ning and decision-making processes on polic y

actions.