Wang-oo GBV Save: A Multi-Channel Gender-based violence Alert and Support Digital Solution is A Domestic Violence Text Line, web-based platform and mobile application to provide timely, and confidential support for people in a violent environment, create digital awareness, collaboration, referrals, and as a resource center
Top Line Summary and Why GBV Save Digital Solution
According to UN Women, 243 million women and girls globally have suffered sexual and/ or physical violence by their intimate partners in the past 12 months, including a significant percentage who die.
Uganda has the highest percentage (60) of men aged 15-49 years who consider hitting or beating their wives as one of the ways to safeguard their relationships. Accordingly, about 56% of women by age 15 are experiencing physical violence, 28% of women aged 15-49 have ever experienced sexual violence, and more than 30% sustaining various forms of injuries. Interventions to help victims appears to be available, but untimely and/ or inaccessible for most victims as less than 20 percent of the victims report to the police and/ or get timely support from relevant caregivers. Most, importantly, little and/ or no attention has been paid to the men who are the principal perpetrators to prevent and/ or reduce the prevalence and negative impacts of violence against women and girls.
Our proposed solution is to use technology to augment our domestic violence male engagement campaigns and victim support. Thus, we seek to provide Domestic Violence Text Line to provide 24/7 timely, confidential, and emotional support via SMS text messaging, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger to people of all ages in violent environment or crisis as well as a web-based platform and mobile application to create digital awareness, campaign, allow for collaboration, and referrals, and a resource center for domestic violence caregivers-police officer, pro bono human right lawyers, nurses, doctors, shelter support staff, psychologist, etc. It is also a market platform where customers/users can access and connect with GBV-related and other justice services providers. This will help to improve GBV cases reporting, response and support, hence, ensuring the safety, quality of life of millions of women and girls in Uganda, Africa, and beyond and also help to break the silence and expose violence.
Target Beneficiaries
Earlier Use of Technology
Over the past three years, Wang-oo Male Engagement Forum has carried out various activities with a focus on preventing and/ or reducing the prevalence and negative impacts of violence against women and girls in Uganda. Given that little and/ or no attention has been paid to the men who are the principal perpetrators of violence against women and girls, we conduct male engagement forums and training in communities in communities and among men and boys’ associations and then use our Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and YouTube channels to promote positive masculinity and empower men and young boys to unlearn and end violence against women and girls. We also use text / SMS to disseminate key information to members that we have engaged before and profile their details especially phone numbers. Additionally, we use our support numbers via mobile phones, Facebook pages, and Messenger to allow for reporting of domestic violence and other abusive relationship-related crisis and provide the needed support and/ or referrals for victims. We also use (community radios and sometimes TV stations and to disseminate our campaign messages. We also use emails to communicate and share key gender-based resources among partners for content development and sharing.