stopping sexual violence and harassment with technology

There was a lot of buzz created by the assault CBS reporter Lara Logan in Tahrir Square. On the twittersphere a lot of the discussion has pointed to the blame and owness that is placed on the survivors - Still!

There are a lot of tools out there to break the stigma of talking about sexual harassment and assault. A number of which were spearheaded in the middle east where taunting and catcalling are endemic, and little fault or blame is placed on the perpetrator. Instead, the survivor - primarily women - is blamed and her freedoms are curtailed in order to preserve honour and to "prevent" these acts from "occurring again" (wear less revealing clothes, don't go outside without a male escort etc.).

Despite tireless efforts to dispel myths surrounding SGBV, it still occurs and can be difficult to combat because there is so little hard data on the topic. This is why new initiatives using technology to map from the ground up are so important.

Here are some tools I have come across:

Hollaback : Global site using online and mobile technology to track and collect data/information on street harassment.

HarassMap Similar to HollaBack, spear headed in Egypt (in arabic)

There is Visualising Women's Rights in the Arab World is an online space for women's rights initiatives including SGBV work.

In DRC there is Si jeunesse savait an online and mobile support network for young feminists. (in French)

A general project taking place during the 16 days of Activism is Take Back the Tech imploring women to use technology to combat violence against women and girls and highlighting projects. It has a handy map of what is going on tech wise associated with the project around the globe.

On a more national/state driven and generic level there's CartoCrime, and initiative by l'Observatoire National de la Délinquance in France that maps crime in general. (in French)

These are the few I can think of with websites. Any more? (I'm sure there are tons)