Resources

Drawing on findings from APC's MDG3: Take Back the Tech! project with women's rights organisations in twelve countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this paper explores the links between the internet, cell phones and violence against women and illustrates that technology related violence impacts women as seriously as other forms of violence.

In this submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, Association for Progressive Communication (APC) acknowledges the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association to be together with the right to freedom of expression at the core of a democratic and open society and makes recommendations for how these rights can be promoted and protected online.

The Take Back the Tech! Be Safe website section offers tips and ideas on steps women and girls can take to make their online experiences safer. It addresses security issues regarding privacy (emails, online chats, password protection, mobile phones), prevention of cyberstalking or secure online browsing.

This mapping platform is part of the Take Back the Tech! campaign, and provides a space for the documenting and monitoring of experiences and stories of women and girls who faced violence against women (VAW) online or through the use of mobile phone technologies. The interactive map monitors technology-related VAW according to five broad categories: the type of VAW, the act of violation (what the abuser or violator did), the harm faced by twomen survivors, the technology platform which was implicated or used in the incidence of VAW, and the level of familiarity or involvement with the abuser or violator. In collaboration with the local campaigners, the map operates in 10 languages, including French, Spanish, Bosnian, Lugandan, Arabic, Urdu and Portuguese.

The Gender Dynamic Coalition statement issued during the 6th UN Internet Governance Forum in September 2011, in Kenya, criticises the continued gender imbalance in both participation (as speakers and participants of workshops and sessions) and substance of the discussions at IGF. It also supports the call to make human rights the IGF 2012 theme and requests that equal attention be paid to women's rights, emphasising the need of a rights-based approach instead of protectionist solutions.

“Strategising Online Activism: A Toolkit” was designed for and by women activists but can be used by everyone. Key chapters include: strategising and planning your online activism; creating your campaign’s identity; social networking and security on the internet. vioThe guide provides practical and accessible step-by-step advice, while keeping a political and feminist eye. It was developed by APC’s women’s programme (APC WNSP) and our partner Violence is Not our Culture (VNC).

The Commentary to the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders maps the rights protected in the Declaration and explains in what parts of the document are they protected, unpacks what each right entails and which are the common restrictions and violations of those rights, and lastly highlights good practices and recommendations regarding those rights. It pays particular attention to the specifics of the situation of women human rights defenders and the particular challenges they face, The guide is based mostly on information received and reports produced by the institute of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

This self-help manual written by Marina Bernal and others with the collaboration of Artemisa, Elige and CREA, proposes to feminist activists to undertake a journey of self-exploration in order to learn to build their own self-defense strategies. It aims to help activists understand their limitations and strengths, as well as reasons why they are victims of certain types of violence and why they react in one way or the other when faced with it.

This report prepared by Inmaculada Barcia in 2011 for the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) is a resource specifically designed for women human rights defenders. It maps the diverse responses and specific measures currently being offered to protect women defenders from governments, as well as from non-governmental sectors. The Report also recognizes and evaluates the effects of international pressure and visibility (urgent appeals, working with international and regional mechanisms, sponsorship programs, awards, solidarity and monitoring visits, trial observation), resources for local action (legal assistance, medical and psychosocial counselling, stress management programs, safe houses, among others) and support for relocation and other grants.