audio, video & images

Happy World Press Freedom Day!

On 3 May join Communication Is Your Right! and Take Back the Tech! for a global action day to defend our right to freely access, use, engage and share information and opinions and become our own media through information and communication technologies (ICT).

Radio remains as one of the most accessible and affordable information channel in the world. You don't need to know how to read to understand what is broadcasted, and you can listen to it while doing other things. Considering the fact that there are 796 million adults worldwide who are unable to read and write, and out of which, roughly two-thirds of them (64%) are made up of women, radio can be a very powerful and valuable channel for information.

There are countless amounts of information and resources online. Everyday, more and more are being added and shared not just by people with access to book publishers or production companies, but by ordinary users who simply  have internet connectivity. Current developments in internet applications, tools and services also strive to make it easier for people to publish, upload and share content, and to connect between different types of spaces, tools and devices.

In Canada a teenager was arrested for distributing photos and a video of a sexual assault of a 16-year old girl. In South Africa, a video that depicts the alleged rape of young girl by two boys in her school is being distributed via cellphone and through the internet. The video was recorded on a cellphones by someone who was watching. These are not isolated incidents.

How do images and representation of women and men affect violence against women? Yesterday, we invited you to explore the spaces you occupy and move around daily with your camera, questions and a critical eye. Today, make the connections between what you experienced and saw with the incidences of violence against women that take place where you are.

Join the dots. Draw connections between images and representation, the dissemination of gendered norms and values and how they impact on the reality of violence against women. Make a slideshow documentary.

We are constantly surrounded by billboards, advertisements and messages that tell us about how women and men should be: what we should aspire to, the bodies we should have, the roles we are meant to play at work, in politics, at home and in relationships, the desires we are wanting, and more. They shape the environment and spaces we inhabit, and contribute to the construction of norms and stereotypes around gender and sexuality. These reinforce unequal power relations between women and men, which in turn contribute to the perpetuation of violence against women.

When you think of all the "legends" in the development of information and communications technologies (ICTs), you rarely hear the names of women.

Take Back The Tech! starts today on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

In 1993, violence against women was formally recognised by countries all over the world as a violation of human rights, through the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women by the United Nations General Assembly.

The last day of Take Back The Tech! falls on International Human Rights Day. This acts as an important reminder that the many forms of violence against women violate our most fundamental human rights.

In 1993 the United Nations recognised violence against women as a critical human rights issue that compels State commitment and intervention - only 16 years ago.

How far have we advanced in the fight to end violence against women?

We're too often assaulted by images, words and representation of violence and sexism. From entertainment to news, there's an abundance of sentences and pictures that reinforce and perpetuate the story of an unequal world.

Disrupt this normality. As a Sunday action, choose to look for transformative sentences, images and sounds that inspire and tell of sexual rights, gender justice, empowerment and equality. Saturate our spaces with music and words that challenges violence against women!