Revisit to resist: 2017 campaign highlights

Colnodo having fun during their tweet chat for their Take Back the Tech! campaign in 2017

From 25 November to 10 December, 2017, Take Back the Tech! Celebrated “Revisit to resist: Histories of the movement to end gender-based violence” as part of the 16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence. The campaign, including global and local actions both online and onground, reached nearly 6 million people and involved more than 6,000 participants in at least 44 countries. Highlights from the global campaign include:

The first time the campaign banner was designed in Arabic thanks to translation from Mada 19
An overview of the global movement to end GBV
Three guest blog posts from Sekoetlane Phamodi on GBV and activism within LGBTQ, disability, and sex worker communities in South Africa
An article with Whose Knowledge? on feminist knowledge building followed by tweet chats in English (#FeministMemory) and Spanish (#MemoriaFeminista)
A course created by APC and Advocacy Assembly on recognising and responding to online gender-based violence
A new website feature, the Museum of Movements, which received 135 submissions of artifacts from anti-GBV work around the world going back more than four decades. The Museum remains open for submissions.

Audience members enjoying a story at EMPOWER's Living Library for the Take Back the Tech! campaign in 2017

Seventeen local campaigns implemented a variety of creative, strategic actions, such as 11 trainings and presentations, 11 radio shows and podcasts, 6 exhibits and performances, 6 tweet chats, 2 editathons, 1 hackathon and 1 rally. Women created 350 pieces of digital content ranging from videos, podcasts, music, photos and graphics to blog posts, articles, research papers, booklets, story collections, comics and Wikipedia entries. Local campaign highlights include:

A powerful Living Library from Empower Malaysia, where activists and survivors shared their stories, some for the first time.
Videos on how young women, women with disabilities, Dalit women, and LGBTQ women in India experience the internet as part of Feminism in India's #DigitalHifazat campaign.
Street theatre and Facebook Live testimonies from survivors in Colombia courtesy of Colnodo. Read an overview of Colnodo's energetic campaign here in Spanish.
An article a day on the history of responding to GBV in the Philippines and a cool Facebook frame you can use from Foundation for Media Alternatives.
A research presentation by ProtegeQV, which revealed that Facebook and Whatsapp are the platforms in Cameroon where people experience online GBV the most, yet only 41% report abuse to the platforms.
A collection of stories from Motoon's tech hub Mushtarak on the use of technology to counter GBV in Egypt and a new album based on the experiences of women in Upper Egypt from feminist band Bnt al Masarwa (to be released soon). Read about the band's songwriting process, check out their lyrics and give them a listen.
An infographic describing thirteen categories of tech-related GBV based on Luchadoras, SocialTIC and APC accompanying survivors through a variety of cases in Mexico.
Colourful documentation of ten years of Take Back the Tech! in two languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A presentation on the Feminist Principles of the Internet in Fiji.
A call-in radio show in Nigeria, where CITAD staff responded to survivors' stories.
A social media campaign from 7amleh aimed at Palestinians.
A study of women journalists' experiences with online violence in Bangladesh thanks to Bangladesh Friendship Education Society and a seminar on digital security and online GBV with Bangladesh Open Source Network.

It was an inspiring campaign that captured lessons from early GBV activism and feminist knowledge from communities around the world for the future. What ideas do you have going forward? Where do you see the campaign heading? Write to us at sara.baker@takebackthetech.net for your ideas to take back the tech!

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave