On 11 August, LSE research found AI tools used by more than half of England's councils are downplaying women’s physical and mental health issues and risk creating gender bias in care decisions.

Gayatri Khandhadai, Head of Technology and Human Rights, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “LSE’s research, while unsurprising, adds to the mounting evidence that gender-based exclusion and exploitation is baked into the tech industry – with women and LGBTQI+ individuals treated as collateral damage. This is not accidental. Gender-based harm is not a glitch in the global tech system. It is the system working exactly as designed. From sexual abuse by ride-share drivers to the silencing of women activists online: these are features of a model that rewards speed, scale and efficiency over equity, safety and inclusion. This is not a new problem, but it is an escalating one.

“Tech companies are actively rolling back gender commitments, meanwhile algorithmic systems, from hiring platforms to moderation tools, are being deployed at scale without gender-competent oversight. The result of all this? Bias gets automated and harm gets amplified. And crucially, these harms are not contained within tech: they have seeped into finance, education, politics – and as we have seen, healthcare. The industry’s gender blindspot is not just a tech issue, it is a systemic threat to equality and justice.”

// ENDS

Notes to editors

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) is a global organisation working at the intersection of business and human rights. With partners and allies worldwide, we seek to put human rights at the heart of business to deliver a just economy, climate justice, and end abuse.
• By design or by default: This research looked at 11 companies (Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Foxconn, Intel, Microsoft, Meta, Samsung, Uber, X) that are among the highest in revenue and number of employees, and/or number of active users, which have corresponding gender-related allegations in BHRRC’s database between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2024.The companies’ gender-related commitments, policies and procedures were then analysed using WBA benchmarks.