GenderIT.org in-depth

In this interview, Allana Kembabazi of Initiative Social And Economic Rights in Uganda, talks about the role of the internet in advocacy and campaigns about high rates of maternal mortality in Uganda and sexual and reproductive rights. In a context where health care is far from sufficient, the internet also becomes an avenue for provision of sexual and reproductive health related information that is not easily accessible otherwise.

Mukono Health Center IV provides relatively better services and is usually crowded. Image Source: Report by Initiative for Social and Economic Rights on Monitoring the Right to Health

The Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) 2016 focuses on economic, social, cultural rights (ESCRs) and the link it has to the internet. Does the internet enable or disable the realisation of ESCRs?

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In this set of interviews, Smita Vanniyar speaks to Japleen Pasricha of Feminism in India, and Divya Rajgopal of WhyHate. In separate ways, both these are projects of passion that find ways to reclaim technology for women and also others marginalised on account of gender non-conformity, sexuality, caste, religion and class. They discuss the pros and cons of anonymity, how to address online VAW and how to raise issues that are difficult and troublesome.

Image Source: Cartoon featuring character Karnika Kahen created by Kanika Mishra

In the current world, with so much of our lives online, it is important to remember that the negatives from the physical world also translate online. The patriarchal norms from the offline spaces also occur online. Violence against women and other gender and sexual minorities in an effort to silence them is a common occurrence.

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A detailed conversation with activist and writer Caroline Tagny on the various campaigns that she has been part of with Take Back the Tech. The interviewer, Bianca Baldo, focuses on the politics of language in these various campaigns and the importance of content in local language to connect to and bring together people and movements. The role of French as both a language of the colonial oppressor and a common language in countries in West and Central Africa and parts of Canada has particularly played out in these campaigns.

Bianca Baldo: Bringing tech- related violence against women and girls to the table, through the Take Back the Tech Campaign, required numerous initiations and collaborations. Please describe how you became involved with the campaign?

Caroline Tagny: In 2007, I was working for the organisation Alternatives in Montreal when a few of us* started the Take Back the Tech campaign. At the time, I was responsible for coordinating the portfolios of the youth internship program and the ICT program.

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Vale Pellizzer looks back at the 10 year journey of the TBTT campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The campaign has taken various shapes in the complicated realities and social dynamics of this country. The fresh and young design of the campaign promised a new hope for reclaiming your agency for women and gender non-conforming people. In this interview Vale talks about the complexities of translating a global campaign to the local realities.

Initiated in 2006, the campaign Take Back the Tech! in Bosnia and Herzegovina has greatly contributed to raising awareness of how ICTs are connected to violence against women, and it has strengthened the ICT capacity of women’s rights advocates, while creating original and varied content. At the same time, BiH Take Back the Tech! and their campaigners have worked actively on building a community to strategize around eliminating violence against women through digital platforms.

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