Dr Juliana Diwa, the Cross River State Special Leader of the All Progressives Congress, says mimicking persons with disability online constitutes a form of digital violence.

She disclosed this in a keynote address presented during a symposium in commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism and International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The event was organised by the Cross River Ministry of Women Affairs with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

According to Diwa, “When contents are being created which mimicks people with disability on social media it creates a psychological gap in the affected people and constitutes digital violence.

“It creates the impression that these persons are not qualified to exist or have emotions.

“This tendency is also isolating women from the emerging digital economy and leadership spaces,” she said.

She emphasised that a society that excludes is a society that limits its own progress and that disability inclusion is not charity but social justice, democracy and economic strategy.

Jacque Karungi, a Gender Specialist who presented an address from the Head of UNFPA Cross River Sub-Office, Dr Andrew Kirima, said since 2021, UNFPA has been a world leader in calling for action to end technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

He called on parents and teachers to speak openly and non-judgementally to adolescents about the people and content they are encountering online.

Edema Irom, the Cross River State Commissioner for Women Affairs, said issues that border on digital violence will no longer be trivialised in the state.

She added that the government is looking at laws that will help tackle digital violence, gender-based violence and the vulnerable.

This year’s 16 Days of Activism is themed: “Unite to end digital violence against women and girls” and also a sub-theme: “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress”. (The Sun)