Fit for purpose? Assessing the accessibility, theory of action, and accountability of digital technology interventions for sexual and gender-based violence prevention and response

This paper presents the results of a scoping review of Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) interventions designed to address sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Our analysis considers the extent to which these ICT4D interventions align with established strategies for preventing and responding to SGBV from gender equality and global health practitioner communities. Using a feminist lens, we propose three parameters against which design features of digitally-based SGBV interventions should be assessed: (1) accessibility, (2) theory of action, and (3) accountability. Reading the intervention landscape through these parameters, our results indicate that ICT interventions to address SGBV deploy creative use of various technologies, from mapping software to social networks and document storage. That said, we also find significant scope for improving the accessibility of existing interventions through use of features that remove literacy barriers. Our findings around the accountability of interventions highlight the need for far greater engagement with emerging conceptualizations of data rights. Finally, we show that existing theories of action are only partially aligned with offline best practices.

Automated summary

This paper presents a scoping review of ICT4D interventions for addressing SGBV and evaluates their alignment with existing strategies. Using a feminist lens, the study proposes three parameters for assessing the design features of digitally-based SGBV interventions: accessibility, theory of action, and accountability. The results show the creative use of various technologies in SGBV interventions but also the need for improved accessibility and greater engagement with data rights.