Countering Backlash News Today

This week in civil society, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal by the South African Human Rights Commission; solitary protests for climate activists abused and unlawfully arrested at Standard Bank protests; and International Day to Combat Islamophobia.

This event for International Women’s Day 2023 will discuss how organisations, informal collectives and individuals are standing up and fighting to protect and further gender-progressive policies.

Read this IDS blog which recaps some of these key global events from 2022 and the impacts they have had on development.

Over the course of the 16 Days of Activism, we will highlight the work that IDS and partners do to contribute to upholding gender justice.

Join us for a discussion about reclaiming trans rights in India, and how people are unsettling the patriarchy and patriarchal masculinities.

Online violence against women, particularly on social media is on the rise. Research by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), in collaboration with IDS under the Countering Backlash programme explores the online hate and threats of violence towards advocates for gender justice, and women in general.

The digital revolution and access to online spaces has transformed the ways we communicate, work, and organise. Yet research carried out by the IDS Digital and Technology Cluster since the start of the pandemic compellingly illustrates the costs of inclusion in digital societies to individuals, democratic institutions, and the economies of lower income countries.

Understanding how to defend online spaces is now a critical area for development research and for achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030. Research from IDS and our partners is providing a greater understanding of the digital rights landscape and how online spaces – from online chat rooms and blogging to social media and online phone and messaging apps - are being used and closed down.