Combatting gender-based harassment through mobile: taking a further look

Originally posted on GSMA Mobile for Development

http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programme/connected-women/combatting-gender-based-harassment-mobile-taking-look

Image courtesy of GSMA M4D

Mobile phones are perhaps not the first tool one would think of in the fight against gender-based harassment and violence against women. However, evidence points to a growing number of initiatives looking at how mobile phones can support in preventing the crime, giving victims a voice, and providing links to psycho-social support. Most of the services currently on the market appear to focus on collating and documenting data on incidents of harassment (see the previous post in this Security and Harassment blog series).

Time and again, mobile services have demonstrated the potential to reach women in otherwise technologically underserved regions, yet local socio-economic factors continue to present challenges that differ from one country to the next. Tech-advocates also risk creating services that pay lip service to women’s rights, ticking a box, but missing the mark for emerging market users on the ground. This blog takes a further look at some examples of how the social sector is attempting to integrate mobile into their anti-harassment and violence against women (VAW) campaigns.

Data for Justice – Another look

In a previous blog we highlighted the limitations of early-stage mobile data collection services in the fight against gender-based harassment, and the need for a secondary, constructive mechanism that legitimises abstract data gathering through real and tangible action. There is evidence of a mounting number of organisations adopting a more proactive stance by making the most of insights gained to confront the issue head on through educational campaigns and connections to local support services. Notable uses of SMS in actualising female safety in this manner include the SparrowSMS ‘Voices Heard’ reporting system for victims of VAW in Nepal. It’s an anonymous messaging framework that allows members of the public to report cases and refers victims to the appropriate supporting services (emergency services, legal aid, counselling, protection, case management). Physicians for Human Rights are also in the process of incorporating an early warning and rapid response feature to mass crimes into theirMedicapt application, again demonstrating an understanding of the glass ceiling presented by one-dimensional data collection services.

Another impressive example of a comprehensive framework supporting victims of VAW via mobile is Fight VAW Nepal, and their automated 24-hour helpline service. The user navigates a simple IVR system to file a report of their experience, which is then transcribed by a designated operator and fed into a Case Management System. Each case is reviewed on an individual basis, after which referrals are made to local Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and government networks, according to the unique circumstances of the person in question. The organisation also clearly states that this service is not designed for emergency situations or immediate rescue, a clarification important to make, yet often overlooked by similar programmes.

Mobile for Development: Not always a saviour?

All this is good and well, but it is important to remember that effective, mobile products and services for women must be aligned with local societal and gendered constraints. Looking through this lens, for instance, highlights the complications involved in constructing tech-enabled support networks for victims of VAW.

For instance, Philip Gibbs, group coordinator of an SOS hotline set up as a means of protecting victims of sorcery accusation-based mob violence in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He explained that in a country where officers present at the scene fail to intervene due to lack of training, legal guidance or shared beliefs, this service would be redundant. In these circumstances reporting services could actually serve to further endanger female users seeking legal or physical protection, increasing their visibility as a target for police officers susceptible to witchcraft ideology.

This raises questions such as how can mobile be harnessed at these crucial preliminary stages to help bolster societal progress in areas such as awareness raising and public recognition of the issue?

The example of an anti-harassment campaign: 7arkashat

Let’s examine 7arkashat, an anti-harassment campaign launched by Jordan-based organisation, Tech Tribes (TT). TT seek to digitise and strengthen advocacy approaches of Middle Eastern civil society and community-based organisations (CBOs) by taking advantage of the pervasive nature of mobile applications, amongst other technology. This particular initiative shares a common purpose with Egypt’s Harassmap, in that its initial objective was to document cases of gender-based harassment (both male and female) via Ushahidi at a grassroots level, in the absence of effective state-level action.

Khaled Hijab, Director of Tech Tribes, explained how an SMS-web data collection platform could provide a cheap, accessible solution for conducting the research necessary to convince the broader Jordanian public of the existence of the phenomenon:

“For serious advocacy to take root…data is needed.”

Yet, despite high basic phone ownership and user rates crucial to the success of this technology, 7arkashat have so far been unable to garner the support needed to make the operations more cost-efficient for users (and TT) through, for instance, an SMS bundle or short code. By raising awareness and acceptability of the issue, Khaled explained, they are more likely to get others on board from grassroots to state-level buy-in, but a lack of data feeds back into a lack of public openness on the topic. Looking to the broader mobile industry, then, what can other M4D stakeholders and industry actors offer at this juncture?

Another challenge is that as the project has grown in stature, it has become increasingly clear to Khaled and his colleagues that compiling reports is an important, but mere preliminary step in tackling the deep-seated nature of harassment for both men and women in Jordan’s capital. The hard truth is that appropriate legal framework deficits and judicial loopholes favouring harassers over victims continue to obstruct any steps taken towards progress in creating an effective, protective community framework via mobile tools.

What’s key is that we consider and compare these hurdles with other parallel mobile services across different regions, in order to examine what is being achieved in distinct mobile ecosystems to overcome the stumbling blocks. Clearly, a one-size-fits-all solution is not the point. If anything, it is the strengthening of local partnerships combined with appropriate technology that will provide the link so often missing between vulnerable groups and well-intentioned digital do-gooders. Until then, a critical eye never goes amiss.

Useful links & further reading:

http://asiafoundation.org/2016/03/02/5-things-to-know-when-designing-an-app-for-ending-violence-against-women/

http://www.euractiv.com/section/development-policy/news/the-phone-app-challenging-violence-against-women-in-a-mumbai-slum/

https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/27/india-panic-button/