Resources

This publication, which is especially useful for women’s rights and ICT for development organisations, UN agencies, health providers, legislators, policy makers and justice enforcement bodies, gathers the learnings and challenges identified by all of the actors involved in APC and AZUR Development’s project “Holding government accountable to gender-based violence in the Republic of Congo”.

Did you know that women between 18-30 years old (and younger) are the ones most vulnerable online? And did you know that the majority (40%) of cases are perpetrated by someone known to the survivor? Check out this infographic that draws on the 1126 cases reported on the Take Back the Tech! online map from 2012 to 2014.

The present research seeks to examine the availability and effectiveness of existing domestic legal remedies for survivors of technology-related VAW to access justice and to prevent such violence from occurring. This research was carried out between April 2013 and June 2014 by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) as part of a multi-country project entitled “Ending violence: Women’s rights and safety online”.

Between April 2013 and June 2014, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) carried out a multi-country research project entitled “Ending violence: Women’s rights and safety online”. The project explored the adequacy and effectiveness of domestic legal remedies and corporate policies/redress mechanisms to address the issue of technology-related violence against women (VAW).

Did you know that less than half of reported cases of technology-based violence against women (VAW) are investigated by the authorities? Check this infographic to know more about our "From impunity to justice: Exploring corporate and legal remedies for technology-related violence against women" research findings.

This is a summary of the research report “From impunity to justice: Domestic legal remedies for cases of technology-related violence <br />against women”, by the Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau. This summary was prepared by Richa Kaul Padte.

The present report explores women’s experiences of and demands for corporate accountability in cases of technology-related violence against women (VAW) as highlighted by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) seven-country research initiative, “End violence: Women's rights and safety online”, conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan and the Philippines. Here, in-depth case studies on survivors’ experiences, their attempts to access justice, reviews of corporate policies, and interviews with public policy representatives have been evaluated with reference to: a) national telephony companies, b) social media and networking platforms, and c) pornography websites. A total of 24 case studies were documented across the seven countries, and the policies of 22 companies were reviewed.

These case summaries are based on in-depth case studies mapping women’s experiences of technology-related VAW and their attempts to access justice either through domestic legal remedy or corporate grievance mechanisms. The original case studies from the Democratic Republic of Congo were developed by country researchers from the project partner Si Jeunesse Savait and the summaries were prepared by Kris Kotarski.

These case summaries are based on in-depth case studies mapping women’s experiences of technology-related VAW and their attempts to access justice either through domestic legal remedy or corporate grievance mechanisms. The original case studies from Mexico were documented by the APC project associate in Mexico between November 2013 and April 2014 and the summaries were prepared by Richa Kaul Padte.