Activism Campaign Against Gender-based Violence

Today  marks the International Day for the elimination of violence against women. And because Balobeshayi is committed to engage the discussion on women’s issue, I decided to sign up for the “Take back The Tech” campaign.

The activism campaign against gender-based violence asks for tech users to blog every day for 16 days (25 November – 10 December) on topics related to violence on women:

In 2005, APC WNSP developed research papers that looked at the connection between ICT and VAW, an issue that received little attention or discussion at that time. From sharing the findings with women’s rights and communication rights advocates in different spaces, APC WNSP found this to be a critical issue that compelled further attention and deeper engagement. Take Back the Tech! was initiated as as one of the ways of doing this, and sets out to:

• Create safe digital spaces that protect everyone’s right to participate freely, without harassment or threat to safety.
• Realise women’s rights to shape, define, participate, use and share knowledge, information and ICT.
• Address the intersection between communication rights and women’s human rights, especially VAW.
• Recognise women’s historical and critical participation and contribution to the development of ICT.

Chance wants that I got in touch with World Pulse this year. If you don’t know this US-based NGO, go and check it out. They promote citizen journalism among women from challenging areas. For example from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thus, my idea is to use this campaign to spread the stories of some of the women who are using Internet to tell their stories but also to hopefully create new discussions. Your input is more than welcome!