AI for Justice and Safety: Centering the Global Response to Violence Against Women and Girls - Side Event on the Margins of CSW70
Centering Justice and Safety: AI for Peace in the Global Response to Violence Against Women and Girls: Side Event on the Margins of the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70)
Organised by Microsoft, Apne Aap Women Worldwide, Generative AI for Good, European Network of Migrant Women, and New Generation in Action (NGIA):
As digital technologies rapidly transform societies, they are also reshaping the nature, scale, and impact of violence against women and girls (VAWG). At the same time, emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), offer new opportunities to advance justice, accountability, prevention, and survivor-centred responses, when developed and deployed ethically, transparently, and with survivor safety at their core. Anchored in the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, international human rights law, and survivor-centred principles, the event aims to reframe AI not as a neutral tool, but as a governance, justice, and accountability issue, one that must be shaped by women’s lived realities and leadership.
09:00 am - 09:30 am
Opening remarks and keynote
09:30 am - 10:30 am
Session 1 – Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women and Girls: Pornography as a Driving Force
This session examines how the mainstreaming of violent and misogynistic pornography fuels online and offline harm, normalizes sexual violence, and intersects with emerging technologies such as deepfakes and AI-generated sexual content. It will address regulatory gaps, accountability challenges, and the gendered impact of platform economies.
Moderator: Tatiana Kotlyarenko, Member of IF20 Working Group on Human Trafficking
Speakers:
Iona Bauer — Founder, Eliberare
Anna Zobnina — Strategy & Executive Director, ENoMW
Joana Costa — Vice-President, Portuguese Platform for Women's Rights
Susannah Sjoberg — Secretary-General, Swedish Women's Lobby
Meghan Donevan — Research Director, Talita
10:45 am - 11:45 am
Session 2 – Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and the WPS Agenda in the Digital Age
This session explores how digital technologies are used in conflict and post-conflict settings to perpetrate, conceal, or prolong CRSV, including through surveillance, online threats, and image-based abuse, while assessing implications for accountability, documentation, and survivor safety under the WPS framework.
Moderator: Jonna Naumanen, Senior Adviser on Gender Equality and Women, Peace and Security, European External Action Service
Speakers:
Celine Bardet — Founder, We Are Not Weapons of War
Fawzia Koofi — President, Women for Afghanistan
Manira Alva — Senior Advisor, SDGs, Vital Voices
Nadia Muradi — Program Director, Basalt Foundation
Shirin Anlen — AI Research Technologist and Impact Manager, Witness
Mandy Sanghera — International Advocate
11:45 am - 12:45 pm
Session 3 – Technology-Facilitated Human Trafficking of Women and Girls
Focusing on the use of social media, messaging apps, and AI-enabled targeting in recruitment, grooming, control, and exploitation, this session highlights how digital tools are reshaping trafficking patterns and complicating identification, evidence-gathering, and victim protection.
Moderator: Tatiana Kotlyarenko, Member of IF20 Working Group on Human Trafficking
Speakers:
Yorke E. Rhodes III — Director of Traceability, Microsoft; Adjunct Professor, NYU Center for Global Affairs; Co-founder, Ethical Tech CoLab
Shandra Woworuntu — Executive Director, Mentari
Dr. Jennifer Okeke — Anti-trafficking Expert and Researcher; Chairperson, National Women's Council of Ireland
Andrea De Silva — Expert in Global Policy, Migration, and Violence Against Women and Girls
Cate Carbonaro — Esq., Executive Director, The Retreat
Anastasia Law — Legal Adviser, Equality Now
1:45 pm - 2:45 pm
Session 4 – AI for Peace: Centering Survivor Voices
Highlighting survivor-centred and trauma-informed AI applications, this session explores how ethical AI can support safe testimony, documentation, advocacy, and justice—without exposing survivors to re-traumatization, surveillance, or retaliation. Core principles include consent, control, anonymity, and long-term safety.
Moderator: Tatiana Kotlyarenko, Member of IF20 Working Group on Human Trafficking
Speakers:
Shiran Mlamdovsky-Somech — Founder & CEO, Generative AI for Good
Iryna Dovhan — Founder, SEMA Ukraine
Azadeh Afsahi — Founder and President, Iran House
Simone Monasebian — Chief Program Officer, Sanctuary for Families
Dr. Estera Borcsa — Founder, Teach Train Transform International; SDG Chair, Mediators Beyond
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Session 5 – Solution
AI for Peace: Art, Memory, and Resistance
This session showcases how AI-enabled artistic expression can serve as a powerful tool for healing, memory, and resistance, enabling survivors and communities to reclaim narratives, challenge stigma, and foster empathy, while respecting ethical boundaries and cultural sensitivity.
Moderator: Her Royal Majesty Queen Angelique-Monet Gureje-Thompson
Speakers:
Veronica Blecker — Documentary Filmmaker
Eve Pomerance — Producer Writer Casting Director
Patricia O'Dusami — Women Leadership Advocate
Professor Karl Bardosh — Award-Winning Filmmaker & Professor
Anne Ream — Center for Story & Witness
4:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Special Presentation by Her Royal Majesty Queen Angelique-Monet Gureje-Thompson
4:15 pm – 4:30 pm
Special Book Reading Ruchira Gupta
4:45 pm - 5.45 pm
Networking Reception
A dedicated networking reception to foster partnerships, cross-sector collaboration, and dialogue among policymakers, UN actors, civil society, technologists, artists, and advocates committed to advancing justice-centered, survivor-led approaches to AI and peace.
***
Partners include: Equality Now, Save Ukraine, ElevenLabs, Women for Afghanistan, Women's Platform for Action International (WoPAI), Swedish Women's Lobby, Ashoka, Platforma Portuguesa Para os Direitos das Mulheres, Black Basalt Foundation, MENTARI HUMAN TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM INCORPORATED, Women's Voices Now, eLiberare, Eleven Labs Artisan Festival International, Eti-Oni Development Group, The Supreme Druze Religious Council, Mediators without Borders, Teach Train Transform International, We are NOT Weapons Of War, NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs, NYU Ethical Tech CoLab, UNA US Inland Empire Chapter, SEMA, and R.I.W.E. (Refugee International Women Empowerment) Foundation