EROTICS

EROTICS was created based on a perceived need for cross-country research involving diverse voices of end-users from different political, social, and civil contexts - sexual health and rights workers, parents, policymakers, advocates, and other key actors - and the different understandings of "harm" that shape their engagement with and experiences of these digital spaces. The idea of this participatory research is to understand the complexity of perceptions of "harmful content" and what that might mean for content regulation on the internet. The research also examined the value of the internet for diverse communities of users in the exercise of their sexual rights and expression.

The research, which was conducted in South Africa, India, Lebanon, Brazil, and the United States, focused on networks, communities, and groups working online in awareness-raising, advocacy, and service provision involving the advancement of sexual rights and sexual health and sexual education. Researchers identified two specific groups: young women and girls (one of the most visible named groups identified in content regulation interventions); and lesbian, bisexual, or queer women (one of the typically most invisible sections of society that face multiple forms of discrimination). When looking at sexual rights and their expression, they also explored online platforms like Facebook, Orkut, and online spaces of sexual expression and socialising, such as online chat rooms, "closed" and "open to public" mailing lists and online communities, blogs, and dating and matrimonial sites.

As part of the research process, EROTICS undertook the following activities:

• explored the impact of regulation of internet content on human rights and fundamental freedoms (specifically related to sexuality rights) that is grounded in the lived experiences of affected groups;
• promoted and encouraged rights-based policy formulation by creating opportunities and developing platforms for critical reflection on the impact of content regulation on sexuality, sexual health, and sexual rights and to act upon the evidence produced;
• built a network of researchers, communication rights activists, and sexual rights advocates on the issues of content regulation, privacy and security, and freedom of expression and its relationship to sexuality, sexual health, and sexual rights;
• supported current efforts to build understanding and common ground between the concerns of sexual rights groups and the communication rights movement in policy spaces shaping regulatory norms and mechanisms relating to content regulation, privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information in the online environment; and
• helped build an advocacy campaign and network to promote and secure women's sexual rights in relation to content regulation, privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information in the context of emerging internet governance debates and practices.

The second phase of the project, which takes place from May 2012 to May 2014, saw the launch of an EROTICS website, which is part of the process of responding to the research findings by:

• Building a network of internet and sexual rights advocates who are able to share expertise and collaboratively respond to internet content regulation ("If you're a scholar or an activist interested in the intersections of sexual rights and internet rights, join our global network by emailing us at erotics@apcwomen.org");
• Strengthening the capacity of sexual rights, women's rights, and gender equality advocates to resist internet content regulation, through capacity building in online security, research, and knowledge sharing, as well as alliance building with internet rights advocates;
• Developing platforms, processes, and partnerships to generate regular and sustained monitoring and analysis of the threats and impact of internet regulatory measures on the advancement of sexual rights, including an annual global monitoring survey that reports on different aspects of barriers, threats, and limitations faced by activists and organisations working on a broad range of sexual rights;
• Developing internet governance frameworks that recognise sexual rights and gender equality as key components of a free and open internet to inform policy development and debates in the area, including research and development of potential accountability models for non-state actors in this area.

Women, Rights.

EROTICS was motivated by the following: "What is 'harmful content' on the internet? The definition is contestable, subjective and open to a range of interpretations, and the majority of interventions to combat it are mostly concerned with obscenity and child pornography. Sexual rights workers are troubled by the growing role of conservative forces - supported by religious extremists - and their attempts to encourage new legislation that would treat all online sexual exchanges as sexual predation and all adult content on the internet as pornography. This protectionist approach overshadows other important aspects of the internet that directly impact on internet users' lives and their ability to access to vital information on sexuality, sexual health and sexual rights."