On 17 June 2025, UNU will host “Women, Peace, and Cybersecurity: a Gendered Approach to Empowerment in a Digitally Interconnected World”, a BIG IDEAS Dialogue with Ms. Jaimee Stuart, Senior Researcher and Team Lead at the United Nations University Institute in Macau (UNU Macau). This online event will be held via Zoom webinar at 18:00 JST (UTC+9).
Gendered issues hinder equal and safe online engagement for women and girls. Among these issues, women are less likely to be connected to the internet or to become technology professionals and they experience more violence and exposure to explicit content than men. These challenges are made even more pressing because digital technologies have the potential to empower and provide avenues to reduce inequities by increasing social and economic engagement, innovation, peacebuilding, leadership, voice, and agency. The question remains, therefore, how do we support women to have equal access to online spaces while being both safe and secure online?
Ms. Jaimee Stuart will join UNU Senior Vice-Rector Sawako Shirahase to discuss a program of research and capacity building undertaken in partnership between UNU Macau and UN Women Regional Office Asia Pacific on cybersecurity and resilience for women civil society organisations and woman human rights defenders in the Asia Pacific. This program of work calls attention to how technology can be used to both promote and undermine wellbeing, rights, and capabilities, putting women’s voices at the heart of conflict prevention and empowering them to become change-agents for peace. It also examines the blurred line between technology-facilitated gender-based violence and cyber threats and highlights the paradox of simultaneously increasing and shrinking digital civic spaces for women and women advocates.
Please note this event will be in English; Japanese interpretation will not be provided. Advance registration by 16 June is required. Registrants will receive an email on the day of the event with a link to attend via Zoom webinar.
UNU@50
This event is part of the UNU 50th anniversary celebration. To learn more, visit: https://unu.edu/unuat50
About the speaker
Jaimee Stuart is a Senior Researcher and Team Lead at the United Nations University Institute in Macau (UNU Macau). She is an applied cultural and developmental psychologist specialising in digital health and well-being. Her work focuses on computer-human interaction, examining a broad range of issues related to social justice, peace, and development in the context of digital transformation.
Jaimee’s research aims to support the creation of safe and secure online spaces for everyone, although her specific focus concerns empowerment for minorities (cultural, religious, gender, and sexual orientation) as well as those who experience inflated risk factors (e.g., exposure to violence, low socio-economic status, displacement).
Before joining UNU Macau, Dr. Stuart worked as the Research and Evidence Lead at Pathways in Place, Griffith University, Australia and is an Adjunct at the Schools of Psychology at Griffith University, Australia as well as Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
