TECHNOLOGY-FACILITATED ABUSE

13 March 2017. Church Center for the United Nations.

Speaker: Cindy Southworth, MSM, Executive Vice President, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Washington, DC.

By Nazgul Asangojoeva-Baekova

Cindy Southworth( Executive Vice President, NNEDV)

  Many representatives from different countries and organizations participated in this session, the topic being, “technology-facilitated abuse”. There were representatives from the National Council of Women of Finland, from the Life-Group shelter organization in the Netherlands, from the government official office in the UK, the US Association in San-Diego and San Diego region “Human trafficking just worse”, from the New Zealand`s United Commission, from the Presbyterian Women in New Zealand, participants from Taiwan, China, and other countries.

Cindy Southworth, the speaker noted that her experience with the UN CSW had been continuously great and the people she’s met have been even better. Southworth explained the structure of the US National Network to End Domestic Violence. They have 56 states in territory coalition members who are part of this network, and they represent 2250 global NGO non-profit domestic violence centers and shelters. Through their network, they represent about 2500 local programs. The network was founded in 1990 to help to write and pass the violence against women act. They also help to provide unoccupied women with legal information for every US state in both English and Spanish. They do a lot of work on housing, economic justice, HIV and AIDS, and technology workshops. Their safety net tech project looks at the intersection between technology and violence against women. They educate and provide assistance to survivors, to front-line advocates, police, prosecutors, judges, and the public. Also, they look at how technology misused by abusers and offenders, how victims can use technology more safely, and how agencies and organizations and NGOs can safely use technology. One of their concerns is as people start to adapt technology they sometimes adapt technology items that increase the risk for victims. They also advocate with policy makers and advise to tech companies, serve of the Facebook safety advisory board, Twitter, Pinterest, Airbnb. Also, they provide a lot of advice to Google and Microsoft.