The Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Programme (an international network that advance women’s rights through the strategic use of information and communications technologies) in partnership with Women’sNet are embarking on a project that builds the capacity of women’s rights activists and organizations to advocate and use ICTs to end violence against women.

The “Strengthening Women's Strategic Use of Information and Communications Technologies to Combat Violence Against Women and Girls” project aims to help women participants negotiate the fraught terrain of this new digital landscape, in which ICTs hold out the promise of greatly increased freedoms but are burdened with growing privacy and security concerns. The project is being implemented in 12 countries, across 3 regions and is supported by the MDG3 Fund. Women'sNet is the South African partner and is implementing the project in the country.

Goals of the project:

To mobilise key stakeholders to stop violence against women and girls by building feminist analysis into global, regional and national ICT policy

To build and strengthen the capacity of women and adolescent girls and women’s rights organisations to use, reclaim and shape ICT to stop violence against women and girls

To create platforms and opportunities for women and adolescent girls to critically engage with ICTs to combat violence, and as survivors of violence to contribute towards self and collective healing

Project Activities:

- Develop an Issue paper on violence against women and ICTs

- conduct a national strategy meeting

- Localise Take Back the Tech campaign

- Training events: Feminist Tech Exchanges

- ICT Policy and Advocacy

- Distribute small grants for 4 projects that use ICTs to address or prevent violence against women.

Contact: sally [at] womensnet [dot] org [dot] za

This campaign aims to empower young people to stop them from becoming victims of violence or harassment when they use the internet and cell phones. Additionally, helping them use these tools as ways to advocate for change on issues important to them.

The revolution of technology brings with it a lot of challenges and opportunities. This development has assisted in a quick, easy and in some instances, cheaper way to share and disseminate information. The development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) has assisted us to access and practice our rights, including the right to access information, the right to self expression and the right to privacy.

Young people  are often confronted with violent encounters in these environments. Therefore violence becomes a hindrance in the realization of their freedom to self expression, information access and communication.

Within these virtual meeting spaces, there exists destructive or sexist intentions from people who are themselves regular users and or sexual predators. This is where images, video sharing and particularly language is used as violent tools to weaken, bully, lure and control other users. Virtual spaces are meant to offer some level of privacy and are supposed to potentially offer a level of control regarding regulation of interaction between people. However it is because of the very nature of these spaces that some you people, like girls often feel excluded at best, and are victims of violence at worst.

Girls and boys are confronted with offensive language use or get involved in a tug of coercive language and threats. While exploring developmental or educational and leisure spaces, they are sometimes lured or flashed with pornographic material and postings of images or videos. Initially in some cases, contact between girls and males started out as strangers. However, in many cases, this leads to physical contact. Leading to this contact, often takes place after the sharing of private and personal information, further putting girls in a vulnerable circumstances. Sometimes, this contact leads to human trafficking of girls which is an increasing problem in South African society.

There is an increase need for young people to access, use and own spaces such as the internet and cell phone technology for their own development. These tools offer huge potential for addressing development challenges. However, the prevailing gender disparities and power imbalances between males and females play out in these virtual environments, as well as in reality. Cell phones have been implicated in transactional sex, producing, sharing and distribution of pornography and human trafficking. However creating safe spaces for the youth to communicate and express their needs has become an important tool in the fight against such rising social problems.

This campaign, therefore serves to address violence experienced in internet and cellular phones by raising awareness and disseminating information and therefore promote using the same tools for positive social participation on the same issues.

There are too many gaps in your current thinking around violence against women – this was the message to political party representatives at a debate organised by the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, Women’sNet and the Political Studies Department of Wits University on Thursday 2nd of April in Johannesburg.

The debate focused on how political parties proposed addressing both rape and domestic violence – both significant challenges to the country's development.

In the lively debate the audience challenged parties on a number of issues, wanting to know their stance on violence targeting lesbians, or their approach to gun control. Others wanted to know how their economic policies recognised and responded to abused women’s economic dependency on their partners. An audience member who was a resident at the shelter where the debate took place, told her story of domestic violence and challenged parties to ensure that women's shelters are supported and made accessible to women who are forced to flee their homes.

Some party's proposals included reintroducing the death penalty – which drew a mixed response from the audience. Others suggested establishing women’s courts staffed only by women and ensuring that abusive men, rather than women and children, were forced to leave the home. This suggestion was challenged by an audience member from the Legal Aid Board who argued that this would perpetuate the notion that domestic violence and rape are a women's issue only.

The UDM committed itself to examining the laws around property rights that prevented the eviction of abusive men, while the ID said it would commit itself to examining ways of funding service organisations and shelters. In turn, party representatives invited the audience to challenge and hold them to account on issues of violence against women. They proposed that regular debates be organised, and not only at election time, where they could engage with civil society on the issues.

For the first time women voters, however, these promises were met with some skepticism: “They only talked about how they could change things if we vote for them. Why don't they start now with those changes?” Maninas, 20.

It's clear from this debate that political parties must work on more substantive, concrete and thought through proposals to help end violence against women.

Parties represented at the debate included: 

African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP)                  Mrs Thembela Papu

African National Congress (ANC)                                 Premier Edna Molewa

Congress of the People (COPE)                         Nolitha Vukuza-Linda

Democratic Alliance (DA)                                             Janet Semple

Freedom Front Plus                                                       Louwretta Jacobs

Independent Democrats (ID)                                         Rose Gudlhuza

Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)                                         Mrs Khomo

United Democratic Movement (UDM)               Mrs Thandi Nontenja

Women Forward (WF)                                      Nana Ngobesi-Nxumalo