What is Take Back the Tech?

Take Back the Tech! is a collaborative campaign to reclaim information and communication technologies (ICT) to end violence against women (VAW).

The campaign calls on all ICT users – especially women and girls – to take control of technology and strategically use any ICT platform at hand (mobile phones, instant messengers, blogs, websites, digital cameras, email, podcasts and more) for activism against gender-based violence.

Take Back the Tech! accompanies the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (November 25 – December 10 each year) with daily actions that explore different aspects of violence against women and ICT tools. 

How does the campaign get its name?

Inspiration came from Take Back the Night (or Reclaim the Night) campaigns, a historic and internationally held feminist march and rally to protest and take direct action against rape and other forms of violence against women.

In the same spirit of reclaiming safe physical spaces, Take Back The Tech! is about creating digital spaces that protect everyone's right to participate freely and equally, without harassment or threats to safety.

Who is behind Take Back the Tech!

Take Back the Tech! is initiated by the Association for Progressive Communications’ Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP), a network of more than 150 women from different parts of the world who support women networking for social change and women’s empowerment, through the use of information and communication technologies.

Since it began in 2006, the campaign has been taken up, adapted and owned by individuals, groups, networks and organisations all over the world. Campaigners have taken action and initiated local Take Back The Tech! campaigns in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, the Congo, Germany, India, Macedonia, Mexico, Malaysia, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, UK, Uruguay, USA, and more!

There have also been several autonomous Take Back The Tech! campaign websites in different languages, including: 

• Réapproprie-toi la technologie!: www.techsansviolence.net
• Retome a Tecnologia: www.retomeatecnologia.info
• Take Back The Tech UK: www.takebackthetech.org.uk

In 2008, Take Back the Tech! was awarded an honorary mention in the Digital Communities category of the prestigious Prix Ars Electronica International Competition for Cyber Arts for its innovative, collaborative campaign to end violence against women.

Why was the campaign set up?

In 2005, APC WNSP developed research papers that looked at the connection between ICT and VAW, an issue that received little attention or discussion at that time. From sharing the findings with women's rights and communication rights advocates in different spaces, APC WNSP found this to be a critical issue that compelled further attention and deeper engagement. Take Back the Tech! was initiated as as one of the ways of doing this, and sets out to:

• Create safe digital spaces that protect everyone’s right to participate freely, without harassment or threat to safety.
• Realise women’s rights to shape, define, participate, use and share knowledge, information and ICT.
• Address the intersection between communication rights and women’s human rights, especially VAW.
• Recognise women’s historical and critical participation and contribution to the development of ICT. 

Why does the campaign take place over 16 days?

Each year, between 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) and 10 December (Human Rights Day), people and organisations all over the world take part in the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender Violence. Take Back the Tech! happens during the same period in support of this activism and to focus attention specifically on the new kinds of gender violence taking place in internet spaces and through ICT.

What happens to the campaign during the rest of the year?

Beyond the 16 days, Take Back the Tech! responds to current alerts and events, including International Women’s Day on 8 March and the “Stop Cyberbullying” initiative by blogger networks. 

Who funds Take Back the Tech?

Take Back the Tech! does not have its own funding, and the global campaign is organised by APC WNSP through its core funding. Some organisations and networks who have initiated local campaigns have independently secured small grants and funding. 

In other words, the campaign is built on the collective energy of everyone involved, through the principles of collaboration, openness and activism. Many individuals, groups and organisations, motivated by their strong commitment to end violence against women, contribute not only their personal time, but also knowledge, imagination and energy into shaping this campaign.

In 2008, APC WNSP was one of the recipients for the MDG3 fund, under a project that aims to strengthen the capacity of women and girls to strategically use ICT to end VAW. As part of the project, local Take Back The Tech! campaigns will be organised by the implementing partners in 12 countries: Pakistan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Uganda, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

What kinds of activities are part of Take Back the Tech?

1) 16 Daily Actions From 25 Nov to 10 Dec, the campaign website will announce an action during each of the 16 days explores the creative and strategic use of ICT in connection with an issue related to violence against women.

Previous actions have included changing default homepages in internet cafes to women's rights websites, communicating experiences and knowledge on VAW in multiple ways including  making digital postcards, creating short videos, blogging, sending SMS messages, collating screenshots of campaigning websites, producing audiocasts, tagging and aggregating online resources, making and sharing stickers and stencils, feminist-ing Wikipedia and even writing haikus.

2) Ka-BLOG
Users are invited to blog with us during the 16 Days of Activism, and populate the internet with debate, thoughts, reflections, information, questions, poetry, ideas, strategies and imagination on how to end violence against women, especially in connection with information and communications technologies.

Bloggers are invited to tag their posts using the same tag, which is aggregated through Technorati, or to register their blogs on the campaign website. Blog posts will be published on the campaign site throughout the campaign. If blogging is not something you feel comfortable in doing, you can also help keep the conversation going by reading posts and commenting on them.

3) Take Back The Tech local campaigns
Take Back The Tech! campaigns have been organised and initiated by individuals, groups of people and organisations in many different parts of the world. Campaigners have created, adapted and shaped actions that resonate with priorities and platforms in their contexts, including hands-on workshops, media monitoring, digital storytelling, film screenings, evening discussions, SMS campaigns, mural painting, theatre productions, solidarity marches online and more.

Claim your action as a Take Back The Tech! campaign and grow the movement! Take control of ICT to end violence against women.

Who can participate in Take Back The Tech?

Take Back The Tech! is open to everyone who wants to take action to end violence against women, and would like to explore any ICT platforms, skills and knowledge in activism. You can take up an action on your own, or collaborate with a few friends, or organise a campaign with an organisation, or in any other way you can think of. The campaign particularly aims to encourage the participation of women and girls to take back the tech, but anyone who feels strongly about the issue is welcome to participate!

How can I Take Back The Tech?

There are many different ways you can participate:

• Take part in one of the 16 daily actions

• Put up a campaign banner on your site, and help spread the word
• Suggest ideas for action that can be taken in the 16 days and share them
• Write, blog, tweet, document. Share your what you know, your experiences and strategies to address violence against women.
• Submit tools or write guides that you think are useful.
• Create campaign icons, digital postcards, audio and video clips, or share them
• Translate resources into your own languages. Start by translating this campaign brief :)
• Collaborate with partners, and organise a Take Back The Tech! campaign
• Don’t forget to share your campaign!

How do I find out if there is anyone taking part where I am?

Check out the list of local actions and campaigners on the website http://www.takebackthetech.net/connect/meet-other-campaigners, or join our mailing list. lists.apcwomen.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/takebackthetech

What campaign materials are available?

On the campaign website, you can find:

• Information about VAW & ICT
• Strategies, tip and tools on how to address violence against women that happens online
• Space for discussion and exchange to build knowledge & discourse and connect your campaign to other spaces, people, info and strategies
• Platform for your ideas and campaign actions
• Banners, stickers and icons to use and adapt
• Shared campaign website for your ideas, campaign actions and for you to publish your own content in your own language. Register for an account at www.takebackthetech.net/user/register.
• Campaign ideas, materials and resources produced and shared by Take Back The Tech campaigners all over the world 

Who should I contact to find out more about the campaign?

Email any thoughts, questions or suggestions to: ideas AT takebackthetech.net 

Uhm.. finally, why are some of the links on the website changing everyday, and some of the formats appearing quite strange?

We have just launched the new version of our site, and it is a truly collaborative effort that speaks very much about the energy of activism behind the campaign. The web development team is made up of women designers, developers, themers and content creators from different parts of the world, putting in a lot of energy and enthusiasm in shaping the site. We are constantly trying to push what the website can do, and how it can do existing things better, and are learning a lot as we go along. However, this also means trial and error as we move along.

If you have technical, design or communication know-how, and would like to join our web development team, send us an email! The website is currently built on Drupal.

In the meantime, please bear with us. We're steps away from creating the perfect website for your campaign ;)