Using technology to combat violence against women and girls
By Lauryn Brown | 17/03/22 09:36
2 min read
By simply pressing a button, digital tech can be harnessed to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) - one of the most devastating human rights issues of our time.
Join us for our VAWG Webinar, to see the digital stories our heatmap has made to combat VAWG and how you can get involved in the conversation.
What technology does in the fight against VAWG
Certain technologies allow women and girls to be at the centre of the discussion around safety- providing a platform to share their thoughts and a platform to comment on specific problems in their local areas.
Our Safe Spaces Heatmap is a good example of technology providing a bridge to increase accountability, accessibility and ultimately become a tool to help prevent VAWG. With Commonplace leveraging this kind of technology, women and girls across the country can have an accessible way of suggesting improvements, local communities can take direct action and showcase the steps they are taking to improve, and men and boys can use these comments as a resource to better improve their allyship. Our data allows a development process to be formed by our customers by investing in safer places and developing innovative ways to end gender based violence.
What does our Safe Spaces Heatmap do?
Commonplace Safe Spaces Heatmaps encourage the drive for change by placing women’s voices at the forefront of the exploratory phase of consultation (to understand the challenges, barriers and needs of the survivors).
Our Safe Spaces Heatmap encourages women and girls across the world to drop a pin on a map to focus on safety specific issues within areas. Additionally, suggestions can be made to produce transparent and constructive approaches in changing the local communities for the better. It does this by providing a solid user-centred design process to understand the lives and realities of women and girls as well as the risks they are exposed to on a daily basis. You can learn more about it by watching our upcoming webinar - feel free to save your seat using the button below:
To further encourage the focus of decision-makers on exact areas where safety issues arise, the heatmap becomes a platform of evidence, communication, data sharing and coordination between authorities and their local communities. The initiatives allow all demographics to contribute to the conversation in all sorts of ways- from aspects like ratings to personal testimonials.
In addition to this, our dashboard provides a foundation for real development in an area. Calls to action are spotlighted which help our customers share innovative ideas and mitigate the events of VAWG within their local area. Furthermore, our heatmaps can be used globally which is crucial when it comes to a universal topic such as VAWG. Because of this, our technology can help sustain and grow the conversation. This may be a topic that makes some people uncomfortable, but only by bringing the data and experiences around these issues into the limelight can change be made. The information collected from these maps is used to shape policy and efficient implementation to build safe and inclusive public spaces.
Our heatmaps can also be a safeguard action to help victims and facilitate access to information (acting as a safe space). Digital technologies are recognised as essential drivers for tackling gender-based violence with significant potential to strengthen the decision making process and provide effective routes of safety for GBV survivors.
Accurate and comprehensive data is essential to understand the topic of the VAWG conversation. This can be crucial in education and policy reform which are key in combating these issues. Because of this, new innovative strategies involving technology are needed to address these challenges - to give those it’s affected a voice, educate communities, and hold accountable those currently too uncomfortable to approach this topic.
Find out more information about our partnership with Safe Spaces Now.
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