Theme: Preventing and eliminating cyberviolence

Introduction

Cyberviolence is linked to the larger social issue of violence against women and girls. Cyberspaces, such as social media sites, do not cause cyber violence, but impact the ways in which it occurs.^{Footnote 1}

Project Objective

To support women and community partners in working together to develop and implement appropriate strategies that prevent and eliminate cyber violence (e.g. cyberbullying, internet luring, cyberstalking) against young women and girls.

Project Description

Each project must include the following two elements:

1. Address institutional barriers

The proposal will address institutional barriers and other factors that limit the efforts of communities to address the issue of cyberviolence against young women and girls. Specifically, projects will help develop appropriate approaches to engage youth and communities in preventing or eliminating cyberviolence (e.g. cyberbullying, Internet luring, cyberstalking) against young women and girls.

2. Build collaboration

The proposal will help build collaboration among community stakeholders to identify and respond to the specific needs of young women and girls. Youth will help identify the issues of cyberviolence affecting young women and girls, expand their understanding of these issues, and in partnership with community stakeholders, help carry out strategies to prevent or eliminate this form of gender-based violence in their community. The project will include a formal evaluation component to help determine the appropriateness of the strategy.

Funding Available/Duration

Mandatory Key Activities

a) Partnerships

Engage and establish working partnerships with women's and other community organizations working in the field of violence against women and girls, community leaders, stakeholders and potential allies.

b) Needs Assessment

Carry out a needs assessment in sufficient scope and detail to inform the development and implementation of the project.

• Use gender-based analysis to determine the nature, extent, and impacts of cyberviolence, and the specific needs of young women and girls in the community.
• Consider the following issues^{Footnote 2}:
  • the gendered nature of cyberviolence, including cyberbullying, i.e. their prevalence within the female youth population;
  • the attitudes and experiences of young people, taking into consideration: gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, mental health, social class, etc.;
  • links between sexual violence and cyberviolence;
  • elements that are unique to cyberspace; and,
  • effectiveness of current approaches, e.g. safety strategies and prevention messaging.
• The needs assessment requires:
  • working with local women and girls to identify their priorities, viewpoints and potential strategies for addressing cyberviolence; and
  • identifying existing institutional mechanisms and supports as well as gaps (e.g., policies, services, strategies, decision-making processes, etc.).
• Identify promising strategies to address the issue of cyberviolence against young women and girls.

c) Knowledge Sharing

Share knowledge among project participants and stakeholders on the broader issue of violence against women, and specifically cyberviolence.

d) Strategy

Develop and implement a strategy to address the issues and gaps identified in your needs assessment by building partnerships and collaboration among community stakeholders. For example, approaches could include:

• creating digital spaces that are secure and empowering (e.g. work with digital companies);
• exploring use of digital social spaces as tools, taking advantage of their strengths and uniqueness to create positive interactive change (e.g. tackling issues related to online anonymity, victim blaming, cyber rights); and
• fostering knowledge-sharing and strengthening coordination among those working to prevent or eliminate cyberviolence (e.g. police services and community agencies to better recognize and respond to cyberviolence, promote data collection, and explore ways to facilitate the exchange of knowledge about cyberviolence).

e) Project Evaluation

• Up to 10 percent of the project budget should be allotted for a planned external evaluation.
  
• Evaluation and reporting requirements and timelines will be determined after the proposed project has been approved.
  
• Ensure results of the project are shared within the community, with partners, and relevant stakeholders.

Planned Results

• Community partners and stakeholders collaborate to identify gaps, priorities and opportunities, and implement effective solutions.
  
• Proven strategies that address cyberviolence against young women and girls have been piloted and evaluated.
  
• Community members have increased their knowledge of issues relating to gender-based violence, and more specifically cyberviolence.
  
• Stakeholders have taken specific actions to address cyberviolence against women and girls in their community.

Project Deliverables (After Approval)

Month 4

• Detailed work plan, results framework and performance measurement plan, risk management plan, evaluation plan, and list of project partners, including description of their contributions.

Month 12

• Interim report, needs assessment report, and other project documents, as required. 

Month 24

• Final report and evaluation.

Note: Performance reporting requirements and timelines will be determined after the proposed project has been approved.

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Date modified:

2017-04-20