Artificial intelligence is reproducing and amplifying discrimination against women and girls, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) heard today, as experts warned that rapidly evolving technologies are opening new avenues for violence, exploitation and exclusion.
“Artificial intelligence (AI) is not gender-neutral. It is built on our data, our histories and our inequalities,” declared Claudia Flores, Chair of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls. Presenting her report, she warned that AI is transforming how people work, learn, access healthcare and justice, and exercise their rights — but is being developed in societies already marked by profound inequalities. “As a result, AI reflects, reproduces and amplifies discrimination against women and girls,” she said, adding: “Technology must serve human rights and not the other way around.”
The digital divide is already shutting women out of opportunities, she continued, with those living in poverty, in rural and Indigenous communities and in conflict-affected areas facing the greatest barriers. “When access to technology is unequal, access to opportunity becomes unequal,” she stressed. Meanwhile, women politicians, journalists and human rights defenders face digital violence and intimidation that undermine democratic participation. Calling for firm limits on AI applications that facilitate gender-based violence, mass surveillance and threats to bodily autonomy, she warned: “Some risks of AI are so grave that no benefit can outweigh them.”
“Every one of these harms is much easier to prevent than to repair,” she continued, urging Governments to build human rights safeguards into AI systems from the outset, rather than leaving their development to market forces. “Human rights must be built into AI from its inception,” she declared, calling for women and girls to participate in decisions shaping the digital future.
That warning was reinforced by Catarina Carvalho, Director of Intergovernmental Support at the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), who reported that, at the current pace, it will take 171 years to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality. Digital technologies are creating new pathways for trafficking and exploitation while outpacing existing protections, she said, adding: “Criminal justice responses have not kept pace with change.”
The slow pace of progress towards eliminating female genital mutilation is similarly alarming, she said, noting that it must accelerate 27-fold to meet the 2030 target; otherwise an estimated 22.7 million additional girls will undergo the practice by then. Resistance to abandoning it is becoming more organized and politicized, she emphasized, calling for stronger legislation, accountability and prevention.
Nahla Haidar, Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, warned that persistent economic and social inequalities generated by wars and armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, disasters and the accelerating impacts of climate change are not gender neutral. “Women and girls face heightened risks of displacement, poverty, sexual and gender-based violence, loss of livelihoods, exclusion from decision-making, and disruption of access to health, education and essential services,” she said.
For Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, another neglected dimension of discrimination lies in the lives of older women who are largely invisible in laws, policies, data-collection and public discourse.
“Many women carry into later life the accumulated consequences of discrimination and violence experienced throughout their lives,” she said, pointing to the heightened vulnerability of widows, women accused of witchcraft and those living with disability or experiencing statelessness or incarceration. Economic disadvantage compounds that exposure: “A lifetime of lower wages, unpaid care work, interrupted employment and unequal access to property can become poverty and dependency in old age, leaving some women unable to escape abuse or exercise real autonomy.”
The human cost of inadequate healthcare was brought into sharp focus by Catharina Boehme, Deputy Executive Director for Programme of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). For every maternal death, 20 to 30 women suffer life-altering childbirth-related injuries, infections or disabilities, she reported. An estimated 500,000 women and girls across 55 low- and middle-income countries live with obstetric fistula, around 90 per cent of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
“The costs of fistula extend far beyond physical suffering… they ripple through families, communities and national economies,” she said. Over 153,000 women and girls have received fistula repair surgery with UNFPA support, she reported, pointing to a global roadmap intended to accelerate country-led action towards ending the condition by 2030.
‘The Shame Must Shift Sides’
In the ensuing interactive dialogue, delegates underscored the breadth of the challenges facing women and girls, both online and offline, calling for stronger digital safeguards and accountability for perpetrators.
“The shame must shift sides,” Luxembourg’s youth delegate declared, relaying the message of young people affected by deepfakes. “It should be felt by those who create and disseminate the content and not the victims. The responsibility lies with platforms that allow it to circulate,” she stated. Even where legislation criminalizes such abuse, its impact is not necessarily felt on the ground, she warned. Algorithms exposing boys to misogynistic online communities pose another threat: “Tomorrow’s violence is being shaped in today’s social media fields.”
Norway’s representative cited research indicating that 7 in 10 women have experienced online violence, while 98 per cent of deepfakes are pornographic and 99 per cent of those target women. Malaysia’s delegate asked how Governments could keep legislation responsive to emerging AI-enabled harms. Uruguay’s representative warned that technology has “changed the face of trafficking”, making exploitation harder to detect. “The cross-border nature of the problem shows that no State can deal with this alone,” she stressed, calling for stronger international standards.
Nigeria’s delegate similarly urged greater cooperation to prevent technology from facilitating trafficking, violence and discrimination, while harnessing its potential to empower women and girls.
Violence Hidden Behind Closed Doors
Other speakers drew attention to violence and exclusion that often escape public scrutiny. Cameroon’s representative asked how national reporting systems could uncover, investigate and prosecute abuse against older women isolated in private homes or institutional care.
Papua New Guinea’s delegate spotlighted violence linked to accusations of sorcery, to which older women are particularly vulnerable. The Government’s 2024–2029 action plan focuses on prevention, victim protection and access to justice, she said, highlighting cooperation with civil society and faith-based organizations.
Angola’s representative said an estimated 20,000 women in her country may be living with obstetric fistula, particularly in rural areas. Ending the condition is a national priority, she stressed, calling for predictable financing and technical assistance. Congo’s delegate likewise highlighted persistent barriers to social services for women and girls in rural communities.
The scale of violence remains staggering, the observer for the Sovereign Order of Malta said, citing United Nations estimates that 840 million women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes, while 137 women and girls are killed each day in acts of femicide.
Also today, in its general debate, the Committee addressed the promotion and protection of human rights; the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and the right of peoples to self-determination; and issues concerning refugees, returnees and displaced persons, including the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and humanitarian questions.