{"id":986,"date":"2020-09-21T11:25:20","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T11:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annual-reports.itforchange.net\/Annual-Report\/?page_id=986"},"modified":"2020-09-25T10:40:04","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T10:40:04","slug":"2019-20-gender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/annual-reports.itforchange.net\/Annual-Report\/2019-20-gender\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender"},"content":{"rendered":"
\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Overview<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Directors’ Note<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Our Team<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Thematic Areas<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u00a0 1. <\/span>Data and the Digital Economy<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>

\u00a0 2.\u00a0<\/span>Digital Rights and Democracy<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>

\u00a0 3. Prakriye<\/em> Field Centre<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u00a0 4.\u00a0ICTs and Education<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u00a0 5.\u00a0Gender Justice in the Digital Society<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Publications<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Financial\u00a0Statements <\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>

List of Abbreviations <\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Gender Justice in the Digital Society<\/span><\/h1>

The feminist project of expanding women\u2019s autonomy and overturning entrenched power hierarchies demands new strategies in these datafied times. Digital technologies have completely restructured society and its institutions. As data becomes the key artifact of power and control, feminism needs to stay ahead in its theory and practice. Our research, advocacy, and networking efforts at global and national levels are directed towards this imperative of promoting gender justice in the digital society.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Research<\/b><\/span><\/p>

Righting Gender Wrongs \u2013 A socio-legal enquiry on gender-based cyberviolence<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>

In<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> August 2019, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>in partnership with the Indian Police Foundation and support from UN Women, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>IT for Change<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> (ITfC) <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>convened a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Strategy Meeting on a Systemic Response to Gender-based <\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>Cyberviolence<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> to release <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>the final research report <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>from <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>our project,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> Righting <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>G<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>ender <\/span><\/span><\/a>W<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>rongs<\/span><\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>This research project, s<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>upported by <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Web Foundation, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>focused on a systematic mapping of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>young women\u2019s <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>experiences of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>gender-based cyberviolence in Indi<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>a, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>and the hurdles they face <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>while<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> seeking<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> redress <\/span><\/span>from prevailing legal-institutional response mechanisms. Towards this, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>we conducted <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> quantitative survey of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>over<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> 800 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>college-going <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>women <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>between<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> the age group of 19-23 years <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>six<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> locations <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>across <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>The analysis of the survey data was supplemented with insights from <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>key informant interviews <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>and focus group discussions with young men. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

The <\/span><\/span>Strategy Meeting <\/span><\/span>brought together <\/span><\/span>government representatives, women lawyers, women’s rights <\/span>organizations,<\/span> groups working on masculinity and sexual rights, law enforcement officials, members of Internal Complaints Committees constituted under <\/span>t<\/span>he <\/span>S<\/span>exual <\/span>H<\/span>arassment of <\/span>W<\/span>omen at <\/span>W<\/span>orkplace <\/span>(<\/span>Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal<\/span>)<\/span> Act<\/span>, <\/span>platform companies, and women in media. <\/span>The meeting <\/span>catalyzed<\/span> a rich and vibrant dialogue \u2013 building on <\/span>insights gained from <\/span>the research report \u2013 about the knowledge gaps that need to be immediately addressed <\/span>to effectively prevent<\/span> cyberviolence <\/span>and <\/span>improve <\/span>access to justice for women victims\/survivors<\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

O<\/span>ur findings were received with considerable interest <\/span>d<\/span>uring the discussions.<\/span> Particularly, <\/span>findings <\/span>pertaining <\/span>to <\/span>legal-institutional <\/span>overhaul <\/span>to <\/span>address emerging typologies of technology-mediated violence and <\/span>enhanc<\/span>e<\/span> platform accountability for women\u2019s human rights violations. The participants of the <\/span>S<\/span>trategy <\/span>M<\/span>eeting <\/span>also pointed to how the next frontier of knowledge building in this domain l<\/span>ies<\/span> in <\/span>an institutional and technical governance roadmap<\/span> for challenging sexist hate speech on the <\/span>i<\/span>nternet. <\/span>This has now emerged as <\/span>a key area for research at IT<\/span>fC.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/i> IT for Change has been a constant and vigilant presence in debates on digital rights, bringing a sharp political analysis into the frame and never letting anyone forget that the hierarchies of power and privilege that impinge on our \"real\" lives are no less potent in virtual spaces.<\/i><\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Kalyani Menon-Sen<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Feminist Learning Partnerships<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Recognize, Resist, Remedy \u2013 Addressing gender-based hate speech in the online public sphere<\/span> <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

In August 2019, with support from International Development Research <\/span><\/span>(IDRC), <\/span><\/span>Canada,<\/span><\/span> IT<\/span><\/span>fC<\/span><\/span> and InternetLab <\/span><\/span>initiated a research collaboration on sexist <\/span><\/span>hate speech in the <\/span><\/span>online<\/span><\/span> public sphere, <\/span><\/span>with a <\/span><\/span>focus on hate against femininity. <\/span><\/span>In both<\/span><\/span> Brazil and India,<\/span><\/span> women\u2019s claims to full participation in the online public sphere have been met with rising patriarchal backlash in recent years. <\/span><\/span>This is <\/span><\/span>fueled by gaps in traditional legal frameworks pertaining to gender-based violence and hate speech, and <\/span><\/span>the<\/span><\/span> unaccountable content management practices of platform intermediaries. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Against this backdrop, the project seeks to undertake gendered readings of prevailing legal frameworks in India and Brazil over a two-year period. <\/span><\/span>We aim <\/span><\/span>to identify blind spots that result in a failure to recognize sexist hate speech as a <\/span><\/span>violation of women\u2019s rights. <\/span><\/span>Additionally, we want to <\/span><\/span>identify the inadequacies of <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>existing intermediary liability regimes with respect to ensuring <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>culpability of platform companies for viral misogyny <\/span><\/span>through this project<\/span><\/span>. A participatory action research component with youth from <\/span><\/span>Samvada<\/i><\/span><\/span> has also been <\/span><\/span>planned for the coming year.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

There are no statutory provisions that directly respond to sexist speech in India. Therefore, to assess how courts are responding to sexist hate speech, we initiated an empirical investigation of the case law database, Indian Kanoon<\/i>. We have obtained API access to the database to comb through judgments using critical keyword searches and identify those relevant to our analysis. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

We <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>also intervened in<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> critical debates on platform governance at the global level.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> In October 2019, in response to a call for inputs on gender perspectives on privacy by the United Nations Office of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Privacy, we submitted an input highlighting the gendered ramifications of the erosion of privacy in the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>platform-controlled online communicational arena<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>, and the need for a fiduciary duty of care to be thrust on platform companies vis-<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00e0<\/span><\/span><\/span>-vis the right to privacy. <\/span><\/span><\/span>The Web Foundation held the<\/span><\/span><\/span> first of a se<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>ries of consultati<\/a><\/span>ons<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/u> between civil society and platform companies on the crisis of gender-based cyberviolence<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>March 2020. At this event, Bhavna <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Jha from our team <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>participated and presented<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> emerging <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>insights from <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>our research.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Centering <\/b><\/span><\/span>W<\/b><\/span><\/span>omen in India\u2019s <\/b><\/span><\/span>D<\/b><\/span><\/span>igitalising <\/b><\/span><\/span>E<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>conomy<\/span> <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

In January 2020, with <\/span><\/span>support from the European Commission <\/span><\/span>and in partnership with <\/span><\/span>Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung <\/span><\/span>(FES)<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>we initiated <\/span><\/span>a five-year (2020-2024) <\/span><\/span>research project on Centering Women in India\u2019s Digitalising Economy. Through direct research by the ITfC team and a national gender fellowship <\/span><\/span>program, the project <\/span><\/span>seeks to generate a robu<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/span> body of knowledge that supports evidence-based policy making on gender <\/span><\/span>and digital economy at the national level. <\/span><\/span>A<\/span><\/span>ddition<\/span><\/span>ally<\/span><\/span>, the project will deploy a participatory action research methodology <\/span><\/span>by<\/span><\/span> partnering <\/span><\/span>with two social enterprises \u2013 <\/span><\/span>V<\/span><\/span>rutti and LabourNet. <\/span><\/span>We will help <\/span><\/span>strengthen<\/span><\/span> their capacities to build an effective platform-based institutional ecosystem of services with their women worker constituencies. <\/span><\/span>F<\/span><\/span>inally, the project seeks to build a new policy discourse on a gender inclusive and equitable digital economy at <\/span><\/span>the national and global level<\/span><\/span> by forging an India-Asia-EU-Africa knowledge network of scholars and practitioners. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/i>IT for Change stands out for its commitment to some of the most difficult issues \u2013 gender justice, equity, and digital divide. What is remarkable about their work is that it is centered in grassroots understanding while advocating for systems change. Their research and advocacy is grounded, but of extremely high quality. This combination is not easy to come by.<\/i><\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Gayathri Vasudevan<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Co-founder and CEO, LabourNet<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Digital Justice Project<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>

We continued our research and advocacy collaboration with the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>N<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>etwork <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>(DAWN)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>to <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>further <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>feminist analysis o<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>f<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> digital and data economy in critical global policy debates. In October 2019, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>we <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>finalized<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> our <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>i<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>ssue <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>p<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>aper<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> From I<\/span>ll-<\/span>F<\/span>ounded <\/span>D<\/span>elusions to <\/span>R<\/span>eal <\/span>P<\/span>ossibilities: An <\/span>e<\/span>–<\/span>C<\/span>ommerce <\/span>A<\/span>genda for <\/span>W<\/span>omen\u2019s <\/span>E<\/span>mpowerment<\/a><\/span><\/span> and circulated it widely in English, French, and Spanish <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>at the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>World Trade Organization (<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>WTO<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> Public Forum.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

We <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>were also <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>called upon <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>as resource persons by <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>women\u2019s <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>groups and <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>civil society organizations (<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>CSO<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> engaging with trade policy forums, to <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>bring a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>critical <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>feminist analysis o<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>f<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> the political economy of digital <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>trade negotiations<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>In September 2019, Nandini Chami was a panelist at <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>a<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> webinar<\/span><\/span><\/a> organized<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> by <\/span><\/span><\/span>FES,<\/span><\/span> in collaboration with the <\/span><\/span>Gender Trade Coalition and<\/span><\/span> WIDE+<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>on unpacking pink-washing in digital trade debates. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>In December 2019, Anita Gurumurthy was <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>invited <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>as <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>an expert speaker <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>by Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>(<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>APWLD<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>, Third World Network <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>(TWN), <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>and the Gender and Trade Coalition <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>for a<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> webinar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> that sought to <\/span><\/span>unpack the ramifications of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade agreement <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>on<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> women\u2019s rights in the Asia-Pacific region. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\"\"
Anita Gurumurthy with her co-panelists at FES’ The Future is Feminist network event.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Advocacy
<\/span><\/strong><\/p>

Global<\/strong><\/span><\/p>

This year, we deepened our footprint in global debates at the intersections of governance of the digital paradigm, development justice, and gender equality. We also continued our advocacy efforts to foreground critical feminist analysis in digital trade policy debates. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>