Cape Town - A campaign to create safe spaces for women and address the barriers that prevent them from using technology was launched on Monday in an effort to combat gender-based violence (GBV).
The WE DARE campaign is a collaboration between a network of organisations including the Nottingham School of Business, 1000 Women Trust and Cadena which have come together to equip women in communities to use digital reporting tools.
The WE DARE (Women’s Equality: Digital Access and the Right to Expression campaign) hopes to mitigate instances where digital barriers prevent women from effectively reporting GBV.
Professor Mollie Painter from Nottingham University said: “Women in patriarchal settings feel very vulnerable – they are often financially dependent on their abusers. They cannot speak out about what happened to them because of the fear of stigmatisation.
“Many also fear that their digital devices and the GBV-related support that are made available digitally put them further at risk, because they are not sure the information can be kept private and confidential. Even a good phone can put you at risk of theft and violence – so many women in townships prefer to have very basic digital devices,” said Painter.
At least 1 000 Women Trust conducted various community focus groups which identified that a lack of basic technology, the absence of support by community members and the economic dependency of women on men as breadwinners, adversely affected women’s ability to report GBV.
The 1 000 Women Trust aims to build the capacity of women’s organisations that support and raise awareness about GBV and to provide opportunities for women and children who have been affected by violence to find their own solutions.
Tina Thiart, board member and trustee of 1 000 Women Trust said: “We started WE DARE to get women to understand digital, to understand the internet and also to get the skills to use applications.”
The campaign will see women convening around sewing workshops in care homes, schools and churches. Here women will be taught how to sew their own reusable sanitary pads, while also discussing reproductive health. Women will also be given the tools to talk to girls about menstruation and their bodies.
The WE DARE campaign will be rolled out in specific communities across the country, and in partnership with specific community leaders.
The goal is to then apply for larger funding to be able to up-scale successful pilots to reach the maximum number of communities.