Sharing and amplifying a positive legal standard for the Reproductive Justice and Digital Rights Movements

Dear friends and colleagues,

In October 2022, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled the blocking of Women on Web’s site by the Spanish government unlawful.Importantly, the Supreme Court reminded the Spanish government of its obligation to respect the right to disseminate and to access reliable information on sexual health and reproductive rights under the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and information.

Despite the ruling, the Supreme Court decided to block a specific section of the website where WOW provides access to abortion pills. Today, the whole website remains completely blocked in Spain because the court’s ruling cannot be implemented. The government is arguing that it is technically challenging to unblock separate sections of the website and therefore the full blockage remains in force.

Reproductive justice activists and groups around the world are facing similar and interlinked challenges in digital spaces, ranging from online censorship by governments to content moderation, shadow banning, and algorithms promoting misinformation and devaluing critical sexual and reproductive health content.

Women on Web and Women’s Link invite you to a webinar on October 5th that will offer a space to share both the successful legal strategy behind the case and the issues with its implementation. It will also be a space to hear what other digital challenges and threats activists and groups are facing in their reproductive rights work, what strategies are being used to counter digital suppression, and how strategic litigation and other legal actions combined with advocacy, communication, and social mobilization strategies can be helpful in different contexts with similar issues and challenges.

Don’t miss this opportunity to discuss digital suppression and reproductive rights using a participatory South-to-South methodology to build bridges between Reproductive Justice and the Digital Rights movements and to share knowledge and insights on successful strategies to catalyze structural changes. 

• Maria M. Vivas, Executive Director at Oriéntame (Latin America and the Caribbean).
• Rhian Farnworth, Digital Platform Coordinator at Share-Net International (Europe).
• Sarah Wesonga, Programme Officer at Article 19 (East Africa).
• Gema Fernández, Managing Attorney at Women ‘s Link Worldwide (transnational).
• Venny Ala-Siurua, Executive Director of Women on Web (global).

<pModerator: Lucía Berro Pizzarossa, International Human Rights Lawyer and British Academy Visiting Scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Register here

*We will send the access link before the event
Simultaneous translation in Spanish/English available.