Digital Technologies and Interventions Against Gender-Based Violence in Rural Areas

Abstract

This study reports experiences of combining digital technologies and facilitated interventions to address gender-based violence in rural areas. The methodology was based on the Safecity platform with a combination of communicative methods, digital technologies, and participant-led interventions to address gender-based violence in the State of Bihar and the Satara district in rural India. The findings indicate that the most common barriers to creating change in rural communities include patriarchal mindsets that foster a culture of silence around women's rights, lack of education, digital illiteracy, and lack of access to digital tools and services. Notwithstanding these obstacles, rural Indian women and girls participated in an intervention to create a new narrative informed by technological solutions that addressed gender violence in their communities.