In this GenderIT.org edition, our collaborators take a moment to reflect and celebrate. They celebrate the great Take Back the Tech! campaign developed in late 2014 that for 16 days brought together women from around the world to reclaim their right to expression online. They also reflect on the first load of findings from the “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” project research which sheds light on access to justice for survivors of technology-related violence against women. For survivors, the right to expression is a first step towards justice, redress and healing. Corporate policies, legislative frameworks and strategies developed and shared by survivors of violence have a crucial role to play when it comes to preventing incidents of violence and providing access to justice for women. The materials featured in this edition reinforce how we can collectively advocate for a change in online culture through campaigning, education and research.

Protecting the right to freedom of expression: Strategies of survivors of tech-related violence against women

BiancaBaldo
Tech-related violence against women hinders freedom of expression (FOE) as it creates an environment of fear, intimidation, violence, social isolation and impunity. This article written for GenderIT.org by Bianca Baldo explores the effects of tech-related VAW on women's rights to FOE, providing insight on human rights law, the different forms of tech-related VAW, the reasons behind it, the weaknesses in the responses, and the strategies used by online tech-related VAW survivors.

Virtual is real: Attempts to legally frame technology-related violence in a decentralized universe

LamiaKosovic
In this article written for GenderIT.org, Lamia Kosovic explores some trends in legislation addressing tech-related VAW and stresses that “legislation itself will not solve the problem of VAW in digital spaces,” affirming that laws have to be accompanied by educational campaigns on the gendered nature of harm in digital spaces. “And it is urgent to expand our understanding of what survivors are experiencing, so we can be more productive in informing the systemic change needed to address this issue,” she adds.

Mapping as a strategy to disclose online violence against women

daphne
When the APC Women's Rights Programme decided to use the Ushahidi map to collect information about the online violence that many women around the world were enduring, the aim was to gather evidence and show how ICTs can be used to perpetrate violence against women. In two years, from July 2012 to July 2014, almost 500 cases denouncing the use of ICTs and online spaces to perpetrate violence against women have been uploaded onto the map. Though cases come from very different countries, they share many things in common. In this article by Dafne Sabanes Plou, the author compiles the main findings achieved through this platform, such as the average age of the victims/survivors, the type of harm inflicted, the platform used to perpetrate the harm, which are the different kind of perpetrators, and the action taken after the incident.

Violence against women online: What next steps intermediaries should take

rafiashaikh
In the response to abuse and threats that women face, are the technology big names like Facebook, Twitter and others taking tangible steps? In this article, GenderIT.org collaborator Rafia Shaikh explores the most outstanding points from a new research report developed by Rima Athar for the APC’s “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” project on Improving Corporate Policies, which talks about specific problems and guidelines on how internet intermediaries can improve their response to VAW online.

Building women’s access to justice: Technology-related VAW in law and corporate policy

Tarryn
This article is based on the issue paper written by Namita Maholtra as part of the APC "End violence: Women´s rights and safety online” project entitled "Good questions on technology-related violence", and on a strong alliance with partners in seven countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan and the Philippines. Looking at tech-related violence against women, law and corporate policy, this article by Tarryn Booysen summarises the major points in the paper, responding to frequent questions on tech-related VAW and answering them with the research findings.

Apps by and for women

florencia
Programming and creating our own applications or apps is about understanding programming codes, taking control and adapting invisible mechanisms. We need to appropriate technical language and create instruments suited to our needs. In this article, Florencia Goldsman shares the cases of two apps that show how technology can be made by and for women.
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