Proposal

APrIGF 2026 Session Proposal Submission Form
Part 1 - Lead Organizer
Contact Person
Ms. Pavitra Ramanujam
Email
Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) *
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Designation
Manager, Social and Environmental Justice Programme
Gender
Female
Economy of Residence
Thailand
Stakeholder Group
Civil Society
Part 2 - Session Proposal
Session Title
A Guide to Integrating Gender to Cybersecurity Policy
Thematic Track of Your Session

  • Option

    • Primary: Digital Resilience and Building of Trust
    • Secondary: Not necessary
Session Format
Workshop (60 minutes)
Where do you plan to organize your session?
Hybrid (with onsite moderator and speakers both online and offline, with online moderator for questions and comments from remote participants)
Specific Issues for Discussion
A gendered approach to cybersecurity is critical because cyber threats, such as cyber-incidents, surveillance, and tech-facilitated violence, affect women, gender-diverse people and other historically marginalised groups in distinct and disproportionate ways. A gender perspective is not just a matter of equality: it strengthens cybersecurity. By integrating gender considerations, we can ensure more inclusive, rights-based, and robust cybersecurity systems.

While it is encouraging that gender perspectives are being more accounted for and discussed in cyber policy, there is still a need for more practical guidance on how this can be done. Building on past work, including our framework for developing gender-responsive cybersecurity policy, APC will develop a guide for integrating gender into the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of cybersecurity strategies.

During this session, we will present a preliminary version of a guide that will seek to support those who draft, implement, and evaluate cyber strategies to mainstream a gender perspective. The guide will also seek to provide civil society with more concrete tools to advocate for the inclusion of human centric and gender approaches in each phase of the policy cycle.

Overall, with this session, we seek to present and discuss the guide, gather input from the Asia Pacific community on the preliminary version and for future work on this agenda, continue giving visibility to the differentiated impacts of cyber incidents on women, gender-diverse people and other historically marginalised communities and promote a stronger intersectional and human rights approach to cyber policy.
Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF
The session directly relates to the theme of this year’s APrIGF “Safeguarding a Resilient Internet in Times of Crisis”, in particular to the track of Digital Resilience and Building of Trust.

Human rights and gender perspectives in cybersecurity can positively impact on the robustness and resilience of infrastructure in the face of cyber operations and build trust. Research shows how cyber operations’ targeting critical infrastructure might affect power grids, telecommunications systems, health services, and secure supply chains of food and medicine. In times of conflict and crisis, it is women and marginalised people who are most affected by these disruptions. This connection between marginalised groups and cyberattacks showcases why strengthening the resilience and protection of core internet infrastructure and operations for all should be of critical importance for the future of cybersecurity policy.

This session will present an opportunity to gather insights on the particularities of the cybersecurity environment in Asia Pacific, including on the impacts of cyber incidents on marginalised groups, as well as good practices in emergency plans and response. This session will also help to discuss and refine gender-responsive definitions of cybersecurity, critical infrastructure and cyberthreats, assess the responsiveness of existing cybersecurity frameworks in the region, and develop and strengthen gender-inclusive cybersecurity policies and practices.
Methodology / Agenda (Please add rows by clicking "+" on the right)
Time frame (e.g. 5 minutes, 20 minutes, should add up to the time limit of your selected session format) Description
5 minutes Welcome and introduction by facilitator
15 minutes Presentation of the guide and preliminary research findings by senior researcher
5 minutes Leading discussant(s) kick off the conversation reacting to the guide and bringing context specific feedback from the region
20 minutes Facilitated break out group discussions based on guiding questions such as: Are the affected communities able to meaningfully participate in the process of developing, implementing and evaluating cybersecurity policy? To what extent does the existing definition of critical infrastructure in national cybersecurity strategies in the region prioritise the security of people and communities? How can the definition of critical infrastructure be adapted to be inclusive and gender responsive? How incident response teams can more effectively address the intersectional gender differentiated harms?
10 minutes Report back and plenary discussion
5 minutes Closing and next steps
Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible) - (Required)

  • Moderator (Primary)

    • Name: Pavitra Ramanujam
    • Organization: Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
    • Designation: Manager of the Social and Environmental Justice Programme
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Thailand
    • Stakeholder Group: Civil Society
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed

  • Moderator (Facilitator)

    • Name: Veronica Ferrari
    • Organization: Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
    • Designation: Global Policy Advocacy Lead
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Argentina
    • Stakeholder Group: Civil Society
    • Expected Presence: Online
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed

  • Speaker 1

    • Name: Barbara Marchiori de Assis
    • Organization: Independent
    • Designation: International cybersecurity specialist
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: France
    • Stakeholder Group: Academia
    • Expected Presence: Online
    • Status of Confirmation: Invited

  • Speaker 2

    • Name: Gaelle Demolis
    • Organization: UN Women
    • Designation: Governance, Peace and Security Policy and Programme Specialist, Regional Office Asia and the Pacific
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Thailand
    • Stakeholder Group: Intergovernmental Organizations
    • Expected Presence: Online
    • Status of Confirmation: Proposed

  • Speaker 3

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One

  • Speaker 4

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One

  • Speaker 5

    • Stakeholder Group: Select One
    • Expected Presence: Select One
    • Status of Confirmation: Select One
Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session.
This session will be facilitated by the APC team. APC approaches cybersecurity as a human rights issue and conducts research as well as monitors and engages in cyber policy at global, regional and national levels. In Asia, APC has been working to incorporate a rights-based approach to ICT policy, including cybersecurity policy.

Pavitra Ramanujam is Manager of the Social and Environmental Justice Programme at APC, where her work focuses on a rights-based approach to ICT policy making. Pavitra has extensive experience at national and regional levels in Asia. Veronica Ferrari is APC Global Policy Advocacy Lead, and has coordinated the organisation's work gender and cybersecurity and the engagement of the organisation's in global cybersecurity policy process.

Barbara Marchiori de Assis is an international cybersecurity specialist working on the APC guide. Gaelle Demolis has extensive experience working and writing on gender, cybersecurity and the WPS agenda with Asia Pacific focus.
Has AI been used to develop this proposal?
No
Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2026.
No
Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2026?
No
Upon evaluation by the Program Committee, your session proposal may only be selected under the condition that you will accept the suggestion of merging with another proposal with similar topics. Please state your preference below:
Yes, I am willing to work with another session proposer on a suggested merger.
Number of Attendees (Please fill in numbers)
    Gender Balance in Moderators/Speakers (Please fill in numbers)
      Consent
      I agree that my data can be submitted to forms.for.asia and processed by APrIGF organizers for the program selection of APrIGF 2026.