Take Back the Tech to Eliminate Violence Against Women · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

The collaborative global campaign Take Back the Tech! started on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. New information technologies are being used in many ways against women and girls around the world. It is fundamental that they become tools of change and transformation, rather than control and exclusion. This is one of the very objectives of the Take Back the Tech! campaign.
Take Back the Tech! (on Twitter @takebackthetech, using #takebackthetech) will have daily action campaigns during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (November 25 – December 10 each year). This year it is focused on developing  actions that defend women's right to freedom and expression and information. Women and men in more than 30 countries have used information  technologies such as the internet, mobile phones, and radio to document  and fight violence against women since the campaign was developed by the  Association of Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Program (APC WNSP) in 2006.
The people behind Take Back The tech! have created a wonderful video on the relationships of women, technology and violence against women available in Spanish, French and English:
On behalf of Global Voices, I interviewed Erika Smith, the APC WNSP communications coordinator, on issues regarding the campaign, violence against women, gender and technology, and the intersections of the global and the local.
Global Voices (GV)- What is the objective of the Take Back the Tech! campaign?
Erika Smith (ES)- The Take Back the Tech! campaign aims to eliminate violence against  women (VAW) by using any technology within our reach to document, denounce and  transform the reality of violence women face in every corner of the  world – violence that is also now, increasingly, in online spaces or  perpetrated using information and communication technologies (ICTs). This  year the campaign focuses on defending women's rights to freedom of  expression and access to information – essential rights in order to be  safe online and off, find support, and mobilise against violence.  The  campaign's daily actions for every one of the 16 days from 25 November  to 10 December deepen our understandings of VAW and the interconnections  with ICTs, and push us to experiment with technology in different ways.
The campaign calls on everyone – from everyday internet users to  bloggers to geeks to social network fiends and sms-addicts to channel  energies towards ending VAW, it connects online action with direct local  actions.
ES- Technology does not  empower women, women empower themselves when they use and transform  technology to respond to their needs.  Many women have grown up in  societies where technology is presented as out of their reach – gender  stereotypes, access and affordability have meant that many women see  technology as something that is “not for them”. Questioning that  stereotype and demystifying technology in such settings breaks down  assumptions made about women and that women make about themselves, too.  In the APC WNSP (APC Women) we've found that women and technology are a powerful mix  for social change where the potential for women's empowerment is  impressive. Just taking the time out to examine the possibilities for  information and communication technologies at the service of women's  needs and rights has been eye-opening for many women – be they techies  or with limited experience in ICT.
Violence against women is so often seen and experienced as a private,  personal, intimate very local problem and as such invisibilised.  Yet it  is a global pandemic, a threat to world public health and security,  that women have tirelessly mobilised against for decades – locally and  globally.  November 25 for many is a day of paralysing images and  statistics, and the 16 Day campaign came out of feminists’ insistence on  keeping the spotlight on VAW and demanding real solutions. Take Back  the Tech! accompanies the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence to  help grow the movement, increasingly interconnect actions, and build  awareness about how technology is also transforming the way women can  experience violence and mobilise against it.
ES- I already mentioned gender stereotypes about women and technology above,  especially acute for older women who did not grow up in the computer  age.  But even with these stereotypes breaking down due to increased  access and presence of ICTs in so many spheres of our lives (and too the  current popularity of geekiness) women are still seen as consumers and  users of technology and in the labour market are concentrated in the  data-capture and call centre service provision of ICT work.
Hardware  and software developers are predominantly male.  ICT developments are permeating our lives on so many fronts – from our  moments of intimacy to the way we interact with our governments.  We  seldom take time out to reflect on these changes from a gender and  social change perspective, and question the implications.  How do you  sanction violence against women online? How much real harm is there in  virtual cyberstalking?  What happens behind the code? Who makes  decisions and finances infrastructure? Why are certain developments  benefiting big enterprise prioritised and social access needs ignored?  Cybercrime conventions seem to emphasise piracy more than trafficking of  women.
GV- How does Take Back the Tech connect the local with the global?
ES- There are local campaigners in over 30 countries who may participate in  the Campaign's daily actions on a personal or collective level, or they  might do something entirely different directly in their communities to  put the spotlight on VAW and ICT. Some campaigners have organised  trainings so that women can use ICTs to mobilise and express themselves  for example learning how to build blogs in Montevideo, explore video and  audio production for digital storytelling in Brazil, or create posters  learning how to use graphics software in Argentina. Others go out on the  streets, for example in Johannesburg interviewing people about VAW,  documenting abuse or protesting to demand solutions. In the Congo girls  made information CDs about violence against women and how to find help,  and shared them at beauty salons around their communities, sparking  debate amongst the women stylists and customers. In Quebec, campaigners  held a discussion raising awareness about violence in popular video  games.