*This article has been posted on The Star in conjunction of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. We were interviewed during our Hacking Hate Camp 2023 on our Online Gender-Based Violence Resource Toolkit .
A stranger sends you a picture of his privates via an Instagram DM (direct/private message). Your intimate partner shares your nude photo to his friends in a Telegram group chat. You receive rape threats on your private Twitter page and your personal details are leaked online.
These, according to KRYSS Network’s OGBV Resource Toolkit, are examples of online gender based violence (OGBV), which has been defined as “any act of targeted harassment and prejudice against women that is committed, assisted or aggravated by the use of information and communication technology (such as mobile phones, internet, social media platforms, email)”.
This sort of violence is extremely gendered and affects women disproportionately.
With internet usage ever increasing, OGBV has been on the rise and has even evolved into new and different forms, says KRYSS Network Partner-Director Serene Lim.
Most people aren’t aware of what OGBV is, nor even how to respond to it. As such, what’s required is a dedicated online resource on OGBV, not only for survivors, but those who help survivors (individuals or organisations such as NGOs and women’s groups), and also the general public, she adds.
This is why KRYSS Network, an NGO that focuses on research and documentation of OGBV, started developing its Toolkit in 2020.
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the start of the “16 days of activism to end gender-based violence”, an annual international campaign that will run until Human Rights Day on Dec 10. The toolkit could be an important resource in the fight to end gender violence.
Read the full article here.