A Data-driven Analysis of Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence in Ethiopia (ADAGE)

Narrative

As personal and public lives are increasingly played out on the internet and through social media, a new frontier in the fight against gender-based violence has emerged. While the internet serves as a powerful tool for information dissemination, social connection, and the facilitation of activism and political mobilisation, it also serves as a platform for the perpetuation of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) and discrimination. TFGBV is “an act of violence perpetrated by one or more individuals that is committed, assisted, aggravated and amplified in part or fully by the use of information and communication technologies or digital media, against a person on the basis of their gender” UNFPA 2023. Combatting TFGBV is an essential part of better protecting women and girls online and empowering their safe and meaningful participation in all forms of public life.

In Ethiopia, the proliferation of serious and pervasive TFGBV is hampering efforts towards gender equality. A qualitative study led by the Centre for Information Resilience found that Ethiopian women are targets of TFGBV, yet evidence underpinned by quantitative data was lacking, impeding efforts to address TFGBV. The ADAGE project was established to analyse hate-containing posts on social media platforms in Ethiopia, to fill a data gap; better inform the general public, civil society organisations (CSOs), government institutions and social media companies, about TFGBV; and provide stakeholders with practical recommendations on addressing TFGBV.

Together with CIR, University of Manchester (UoM) academics co-designed a new hate speech data annotation task. Whilst the UoM academics lent their expertise in natural language processing and computational linguistics to CIR, they provided experts in analysing social media content within the Ethiopian context and in Ethiopian languages. Through a series of technical discussions and with the aid of collaborative tools (e.g., Egnyte, Zoom, Google Spreadsheets), UoM trained and supported these experts on the annotation task, to ensure data quality

An output of the ADAGE project was a report which provided the evidence required for sustained advocacy, informing the public and Ethiopian stakeholders with data and filling a vital gap (evident through garnered media attention). Following several rounds of discussions on the findings with stakeholders in Ethiopia, the team also produced a research-based recommendations paper with 34 practical recommendations across 7 policy areas.

Category of impact	Policy, Attitudes and behaviours, Awareness and understanding