Organisations using ICTS to end violence against women

Although substance use does not cause domestic violence, there is a clear link between the two: A recent UK study showed that 51% of respondents from domestic violence agencies claimed that either themselves or their partners had used drugs, alcohol and/or prescribed medication in problematic ways in the last five years.

The Stella Project is a partnership between the Greater London Domestic Violence Project (GLDVP) and the Greater London Alcohol and Drug Alliance (GLADA), which was set up in 2002 to address gaps in the current service provision for both survivors and perpetrators of domestic violence who are problematic substance users.

The Stella Project works firmly from the perspective that there is not a simple causal link between substance misuse and domestic violence; drug or alcohol use should never be accepted as an excuse for violent or abusive behaviour and neither should survivors’ substance use be used to justify the use of violence against them.

Rape Crisis Scotland is the national office for rape crisis and sexual abuse centres and provides a national rape crisis helpline (Freephone 08088 01 03 02 - 6pm – midnight every night of the year) for anyone affected by sexual violence, no matter when or how it happened. Our member centres provide free and confidential support to women and girls who have experienced sexual violence. Rape Crisis Scotland also works to raise awareness of sexual violence, and to challenge attitudes which blame women for the violence inflicted upon them. Rape Crisis Scotland member centres work from a feminist perspective, recognising that rape and other forms of sexual violence are crimes of violence and abuses of power.

From a base in Manchester, and with a focus across the North West, a collective of academics, youth work practitioners and young people have come together to ‘do something’ about young women and girls’ youth work.

Women’s Aid has been working to address the issue of domestic violence in Ireland for more than 30 years. Our direct services to women experiencing domestic violence underpin and inform all our work towards ending violence against women.

The Women’s Aid National Freephone Helpline (1800 341 900) operates from 10am to 10 pm daily and provides support and information to callers experiencing abuse primarily from intimate partners. Our Support Services Team provide more in-depth one-to-one information and support, Monday to Friday, in locations throughout Dublin. Currently, Women’s Aid also provides specialised training to assist a wide range of agencies in developing appropriate services to women experiencing domestic violence including: nurses, doctors, social workers, mental health workers, family support workers, community care workers, and students at the Garda Training College.

All of Women’s Aid services to women operate from principles of: confidentiality; maximising women’s safety at all times; supporting women’s increasing autonomy while recognising the woman as expert in her own situation; commitment to ensuring justice for the victim and accountability and sanctions against violent men; being informed and knowledgeable about rights, entitlements and options for women to ensure appropriate and responsible referral; recognising that the best form of child protection in domestic violence situations is woman protection; advocating for women’s rights; addressing additional barriers and discriminations that women experience; ongoing commitment to action for political and institutional change; encompassing key feminist principles within the philosophy and ethos of the organisation.

Please visit our website www.womensaid.ie to find out more.

The London Centre for Personal Safety is a charity working to prevent and reduce violence and the fear of violence, and empower individuals to manage safer lives. We work from a feminist perspective, and provide services that recognize the importance of gender in understanding and stopping violence and take in consideration the age, class, race, ethnicity, sexuality and disability of our users.

We have 27 years experience of providing personal safety and self defence training information, a Consultancy service for organisations, information, advice and resources on a number of safety issues. We are independent advisors to the Metropolitan Police Service Project Sapphire Specialist Advisory Group, which works to improve rape and sexual assault investigation and victim care.

We are pioneers in our field and have conducted Women’s Safety and Self-defence programmes for thousands of residents and workers across Greater London, in partnership with local authority and regeneration agencies. Our work has been cited as best practice by the London Strategic Policy Unit (1987), the Safer Islington Strategic Group (1995/98), by the Home Office and Cabinet Office Women’s Unit- in “Living Without Fear” (1999), The British Council Directory of UK Resources on Violence Against Women (2001). We received a Hounslow Chamber of Commerce Award for our Children Safety Programme (2001) and Eaves House Lilith Project Award for the best intervention for women in the public space (2005).

Anti-Porn London (formally the London branch of Anti-Porn UK) was set up by members of the London Feminist Network.

Bin the Bunny is part of our ongoing campaign against the normalisation and mainstreaming of pornography.

Bin the Bunny

Tender (formerly known as ‘Until the Violence Stops’) continues its work to prevent violence against women and girls through its schools based violence prevention project TRUST.

TRUST is an interactive drama-based campaign that engages and educates 13 -18 year old young people about the importance of healthy, non-abusive relationships. TRUST empowers young people to lead their own campaigns to prevent domestic and sexual violence by engaging their schools and communities in positive social change through drama and the arts.

We have reached over 1,600 young people in Greater London since the launch of the project in April 2004. We aim to challenge young people's tolerance towards abuse in relationships and to identify the early warning signs of intimate violence. Through the process of performance, students are able to ‘rehearse the reality' of relationships, and to explore healthy alternatives to abusive behaviour.

As the VDay campaign expanded over 10 years, we saw the potential of developing a project specifically for younger people with the express aim to prevent domestic and sexual violence from happening in the first instance. This project is TRUST and after 5 years of success in educational settings, we are now developing online platforms on which young people can effectively engage.

Eaves gives a voice to the most excluded women in society. For more than 30 years we’ve been providing support, accommodation, outreach and advice to women who have experienced violence.

Our work spans trafficking, domestic violence, sexual violence and forced labour and is backed by research, capacity-building and awareness-raising. Eaves research team, the Lilith Project, produces the Women’s Weekly News as part of this work.

Women's Resource Centre supports women's organisations to be more effective and sustainable. We provide training, information, resources and one-to-one support on a range of organisational development issues. We also lobby decision makers on behalf of the women's not-for-profit sector for improved representation and funding.

Our member organisations work in a wide range of fields delivering services to, and campaigning on behalf of, some of the most marginalised communities of women. Within the women's sector, a significant proportion of organisations are working to stop violence against women.

"Take Back The Tech!" is initiated and organised by the Association for Progressive Communications, Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP)

We are a global network of women who support women networking for social change and women's empowerment, through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

We promote gender equality in the design, development, implementation, access to and use of ICTs, and in the policy decisions and frameworks that regulate them.

Our network numbers over 100 women from more than 35 countries. They are individual women and women's groups and organisations working in the field of gender and ICT and actively supporting women's networking. Our members have formed themselves into regional networks in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and are building an emerging network in Europe.

We are part of the Association for Progressive Communication (APC), an international network of civil society organisations dedicated to empowering and supporting groups and individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection of the environment, through the strategic use of ICTs, including the internet.
Partners & Collaborators

Each brilliant person who helped build this site through the campaign wiki working space, and bloggers who helped send the word around.

Not to mention groups and collectives who are initiating local take back the tech campaigns!

Women'sNet
takebackthetech.org.uk
Cotidiano Mujer
Réapproprie-toi la technologie!
Open Institute, Cambodia
g2g y retome a tecnologia
CIJ - Centre for Independent Journalism
Azur Development
LaNeta
silence speaks
WOUGNET - Women of Uganda Network
AWID - association for women's rights in development