Workshop, Regional networks for tackling gender-based online violence, IFF, Valencia

From Gender and Tech Resources

Title Regional networks for tackling gender-based online violence: Good practices, strategies and autonomous infrastructure for counseling and support
Category Privacy Advocacy Digital Security Gender and Tech
Start 2016/03/02
End 2016/03/02
Hours 2
Scale
Geolocalization 39° 37' 21", -0° 26' 37"
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Organisation Tactical Technology Collective
Website https://internetfreedomfestival.org/wiki/index.php/Regional_networks_for_tackling_gender-based_online_violence:_Good_practices,_strategies_and_autonomous_infrastructure_for_counseling_and_support
Target audience Persons invested in shaping regional networks of support and solidarity
Number of participants 30
Context and motivations During this workshop we will assess together how we can enable networks of support for women and their allies in order to face and overcome gender-tech based violences. We will depart from our own realities and ground-based work in order to share about what works (and what does not) in relation to documenting and supporting targets of tech-related violence and how we can boost the creation of regional networks based on self care, solidarity and secure communication channels in order to create resilient and sustainable community of practices, mentoring and counseling.

More in detail, we will reflect together about how we can adapt and scale practices in our networks for the creation of more safe spaces (online and offline) where bystanders, targets and allies can gather, resist, overcome and create. We will share about social processes, strategies of resistance, low and high tech, autonomy and collectives, and how anonymity, privacy and the web of trust interrelates with all of that.

Topics regional networks, trust, support, solidarity, tech related violence, VAW, resilience
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Agenda This session will last two hours and its principal aims are to brainstorm together in order to imagine how we can build regional networks for tackling tech-related violence and create networks of support and solidarity. This entrails from thinking what type of training and curricula such networks would required in order to blossom, but also what could be their needs in relation to autonomous infrastructure, low tech and/or privacy and security oriented tools of communication.

We will try to make the best of the time we have in our hands, this is why we would ask you to think about one good example of community/network of support (does not have to be gender oriented) and to carefully think about it is successful (impact, resilience, sustainability, etc). The workshop will be participative and we hope that ideas and exchanges that will take place during the session will inspire all of us in our own practices.

Brainstorm about how practices taking place in those networks could be boosted in our own training activities to privacy and digital security? How do we transform training in seeds for change inside regional territories? What are the basic elements for a training to create a network of support that remains over time? (hotline, information on time when under attack, psychosocial counseling at distance, regional and local aspects of tech-related violence and tactics to mitigate and overcome it, etc.) Which dimensions should be taken into account for an appropriate curricula and training methodologies that would have those objectives in mind? Are they any requirements in relation to collective and participants which are trained? What should be the technical infrastructure? Etc

Quick round of introduction people in the room: By families maybe (gender, holistic, training, tech development, documentation, etc To be decided) – 10 mins maximum Presentation and introduction should not take more than 20 mins

In order to make the most of the session, we will work in 4 or 5 small groups (between 4 or 5 persons) around a common guideline and will then share all together – 30 to 45 mins

Put in common: 20 mins / Debate and synthesis: 20 mins

Methodologies Examples of regional networks:

> Community exchange system: https://www.community-exchange.org/home/ Here we exchange and share what we have to offer for what others provide using a variety of exchange methods: record keeping, time exchange, direct exchange, barter, swapping, gifting and sharing. Simply by keeping track of who receives what from whom we can dispense with the ancient idea of exchange media and the apparatus required to manage them. This helps us focus on providing and requesting what is really needed instead of chasing after money.

This network is global and counts with many different local networks and different type of social money/currency (https://www.community-exchange.org/home/cen-statistics/). Experience has shown that those networks can only work properly (sustainable) if they are based on trust and trust requires mechanisms of get together/face to face. When those networks become too big, they tend to fail. Dimension here is how we build trust?

Problematic for our case study/guidelines: How we build trust when counseling at distance? Or should it also provide face to face moments (specific physical safe spaces that can be used as get together places)? How we ensure that people seeking assistance know about those counsellings channels? How can we trust they are really seeking assistance? Vs how we ensure that people providing counseling are trustful? + platforms used to register incidents/tech related violence/attacks and to document the solutions or mitigation strategies activated

> Pro-choice counseling and support: (http://abortoinfosegura.com/blog/todo-sobre-la-linea/):

Hotlines can consist in phone numbers, twitter accounts, facebok chats and so on + it can also become face to face support accompanying women in order to get them misoprostol and/or traveling to spaces where abortion is legal

> Hotlines against suicides (http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html)

Specific training for volunteers attending hotlines, some work 24/7, others on specific hours. Some are funded, partially or totally, some are totally volunteer based. Specific trainings entails specific curricula and training methodologies that mixes psychosocial wellbeing + skills and knowledge about orienting support seekers towards institutions and collectives that can help them face to face.

Media guidelines for suicide (http://www.suicide.org/media-guidelines-for-suicide.html) . Orientation and guidelines for media covering suicides, do and dont's + good practices

Critical elements: Cope with individuals facing a desperate moment, not making things worst = Do Not Harm approach + respect confidentiality and privacy of people calling Why regional?

Scope can vary a lot but we are thinking about a territorial scale that has some type of consistency in relation to legislation in place + type of ICT and uses of ICT being made + perception and types of tech-related violences taking place + social norms and cultural background (language for instance)

Guidelines for building cases study

Focus groups discussion for the case studies: How to create a network of support and counseling for women (and others) facing gender based online violence? Title case study:

Why/Who? > Typology of tech-related attacks (list the 3 most common/frequent/probable ones) > Who is facing those attacks (women, trans, LGTBIQ, gender social justice activists, feminists organisations etc)?

How to do the counseling and support? > Only at distance and/or face to face? - What are the channels and/or physical safe spaces that would be used for providing counseling?(mailing list, email, forum, phone hotline, chat, IRC, physical space) - > Capacity building: Which dimensions should be taken into account (need for trainings, self learning resources?) > Curricula needed for the capacity building: (psychosocial wellbeing, social support, understanding of laws and enforcement, knowledge on privacy and holistic security, etc) > Who can provide support? (individuals, champions, networks, communities,formal organisations) – what should be their skills, attitudes and required behaviors?

Documentation/Incident report (document the incident – recommendations/response) > How the documentation of attacks and answers/mitigation measures/behaviors should be achieved? (no personal identifiable information for instance) > What would be the adequate platform for achieving this documentation/incident report? (wiki –website – flyers – others) > Who can view/edit/comment on this documentation/incident report? > Interaction between the local/regional production of incident reports and top down global resources that can be repurposed

Other characteristics of the network > Resources needed (technical, infrastructure, money, trainings/capacity building, autonomous servers etc) > Sustainability(volunteer base, need funding etc?) > Resilience(how to build trust in the network, standard of quality, follow up of impact etc)

Resources The regional networks session intended to brainstorm between international experiences of solidarity, support and counselling networks that are tackling gender based violence. We could go in-depth in the analysis of four cases studies: Network of WHRD on Oaxaca dealing with urgent situations (Mexico); Black lives matters! (USA); Aware girls, young women organization working for women's empowerment (Pakistan); and a network promoting self care among feminist activists (Brasil).
Gendersec
Feelings Not enough time but a lot of fruitful conversation and a detailed documentation of each case study
Feedbacks This topic is worth investigating, participants felt inspired for addressing more indepth dimensions detailed in their case study in their own work
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