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Making All Spaces Safe: Global programme to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence

Making All Spaces Safe is a UNFPA global programme, supported by Global Affairs Canada, designed to tackle the growing prevalence and threat of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). 

TFGBV is a pervasive issue that occurs across a continuum of online and offline experiences, manifesting in various forms such as online harassment, image-based abuse, cyberstalking, doxxing and AI-generated abuse, among many others.

These acts disproportionately impact women and girls in all their diversity, undermining their safety, agency and participation in all spaces, online and offline. 

The Making All Spaces Safe programme seeks to address critical gaps in preventing and responding to TFGBV by integrating targeted activities into existing gender-based violence programming. The programme also works to strengthen prevention and mitigation efforts through the promotion of rights-based laws and policies and safety-by-design standards in technology development. 

The initiative comprises both global interventions as well as pilot programmes in two countries, Benin and Kenya. Recognizing the unique needs of each context, the programme employs a participatory and in-depth contextualization process to ensure delivery of tailored solutions that are suitable and sustainable for the communities that are served.

Programme Pillars

Making All Spaces Safe is structured around 3 key pillars - response, prevention, and law and policy - and 2 cross-cutting pillars - research and evaluation, and convening efforts:

  • Response: Creating and improving integrated and multi-sectoral response mechanisms to support survivors of TFGBV, offering them quality and sustainable resources and services to recover and seek justice. This includes the inception of a Global Response Hub through which frontline service providers are provided with referral support to digital rights and TFGBV specialists to enable effective and time-sensitive response support. 
  • Prevention: Working with tech companies to create safer online environments through incorporating safety-by-design principles, and adapting education for in and out of school young people to ensure inclusion of digital literacy and safety online. 
  • Law and Policy: Supporting development of rights-based law reform to address TFGBV as well as influencing industry standard setting bodies to ensure inclusion of safety-by-design. 
  • Research and Evaluation: Conducting research to understand the scope and impact of TFGBV at a national level and supporting global thought leadership, including feminist AI. Central to the programme is the evaluation of intervention impact to inform continuous learning and enable responsible scale up. 
  • Convening Efforts: Bringing together stakeholders from various sectors, including civil society organizations (CSOs), women's movements, tech companies, and government agencies, to foster collaboration and share best practices.

 

Building on UNFPA's Global Experience

Making All Spaces Safe is built upon UNFPA's extensive experience in addressing GBV in over 150 countries. By leveraging existing networks and partnerships with national governments, CSOs, women's movements, and the private sector, the programme champions and promotes a comprehensive and collaborative approach to ending GBV, both online and offline.

Additionally, the programme creates global processes for knowledge sharing, allowing successful approaches to address TFGBV be adapted and scaled to other contexts around the world. By doing so, the programme will set a new standard and inspire further action to prevent and respond to the pervasive and evolving threat of TFGBV.

 

Centering Women and Girls in All Their Diversity

TFGBV has a profound impact on the health, well-being, and social participation of women and girls in all spaces, and can often lead to silencing, loss of employment, and diminished educational and economic opportunities. The goal of the Making All Spaces Safe programme is to ensure that women and girls can enjoy the benefits of technology without fear of gender-based violence. This will increase women's safe and meaningful participation in online spaces, ultimately enhancing their participation in public and political life and advancing gender equality, both online and offline.

Updated 19 December 2024