• Contract Type: Temporary

• Location: flexible, with online literature review and online interviews focusing on: Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda
• Application deadline: 03 April 2023
• Timeline: approximately 1 May 2023 – 30 September 2023 (with the majority of work to be done in May-June, see deliverables and timeline)
• Budget: €30.000,- (including VAT)
• Estimated time needed: 55 days

About the Job

The Generation G partnership strives towards the creation of gender-just and violence-free societies with and for young people in their full diversity. Within our partnership technology facilitated gender-based violence or online gender-based violence cannot be overlooked. It is one of the newer and continuously changing forms of gender-based violence that undermines gender justice and impedes progress on shifting harmful gender norms. Online gender-based violence is a major threat to the full participation of all young people in civic space and particularly forms a risk to the influence, reach, wellbeing, security of feminist activists.

Rutgers, ABAAD – Resource Centre for Gender Equality,  Equimundo (Formerly Promundo-US), and Sonke Gender Justice, together the #GenerationG partnership, are looking for a consultant to conduct a multi-country study to compare the nature, extent and impact of technology facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). The study will cover Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa and Indonesia. It is intended to support the programme’s learning and advocacy work. Apart from understanding TFGBV in these different contexts, the aim is to identify the gaps in laws, policies and to identify avenues for national and global level advocacy to prevent and address TFGBV and promote gender justice. 

About Generation G

The Generation G partnership strives towards the creation of gender-just and violence-free societies with and for young people in their full diversity. The partnership raises public support, advocates for improved policies and laws, and strengthens civil society to contribute to achieving gender justice. It thrives on the diversity, strength and collaboration of experts, evidence-based and evaluated approaches, cross-country learning, and global advocacy. Programme activities are running in parallel in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda, since 2021 and will conclude at the end of calendar year 2025.

About the Organization:

Rutgers has worked with young people on sexual and reproductive rights for more than 50 years. In 29 countries, we work on sexuality education and information, access to contraception and safe abortion and the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence. At Rutgers, we talk about sexuality openly, positively and practically. We want young people to be free to enjoy their sexuality and relationships while respecting the rights of others in a gender-inclusive society. Our mission is to connect, support and engage with young people and those around them to make this a reality. Learn more at Rutgers.International.

Background

New communication technologies and the internet, including social media, are important to promote gender justice and GBV prevention. These media have allowed girls, women and people identifying as LGBTQI+ to express themselves in their own words, denounce GBV and femicide, advocate and campaign.

Nevertheless, online misogyny and carefully orchestrated opposition against gender justice reduces the impact of these freedoms. In many parts of the world, girls and young women face restrictions to access the internet through the existing digital gender divide. They also often find their family is prohibiting their access to the internet. When they do have access, girls, women and LGBTQI+ people, face increased risk to become subject to harassment, hate, bullying and sexism when they express themselves online. This led to the invention of a new term: ‘technology facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV)’, also called ‘online gender-based violence.

Technology facilitated gender-based violence comes in many forms. It includes: stalking, bullying, sexual harassment, defamation, hate speech, exploitation and gender trolling.’ (ICRW 2019). It also includes non-consensual creating and/or postings of sexual media, cyber flashing, doxing etc.

New types of TFGBV emerge at a rapid pace. It is therefore hard to pin down and provide easy solutions to address and prevent online GBV and policies and laws often lag behind. Furthermore, online GBV, like other forms of GBV, is grafted on cultural, religious and locally specific gender norms, existing power inequalities and availability and use of technology. This means the form it takes will differ across space and time.

There is increasing attention for technology facilitated gender-based violence and there is evidence that it is on the rise while it ‘undermines the safety and wellbeing of individuals and negatively impacts communities’(ICRW 2019). For individuals, TFGBV causes psychological harm, limits expression and can have strong reputational, professional and economic consequences. For societies or systems it reinforces gender and racial inequalities and changes gender norms and behaviour. The silencing of girls, women and LGBTQI+ people as a consequence of TFGBV is being feared for its impact on the representation of their opinions and influence on (online) civic space. Furthermore TFGBV is oppressing female Black, Indigenous and People of Color more than others. Therefore, an intersectional approach to understanding and combatting TFGBV is required. 

How is TFGBV relevant to Generation G?

In the Generation G Theory of Change, one of the long-term outcomes of the programme is to mobilise young people to prevent GBV on- and offline and to promote gender justice. Another long-term outcome focusses on CSOs being able to monitor and mitigate risks related to backlash, harassment, conflict and opposition in on- and offline civic space. Some generation G implementing countries focus on online GBV in their advocacy or research work. In general, however, the focus on TFGBV has so far been limited within the Generation G programme and there is a need for learning and strategising more on this topic that works against the achievement of gender justice. There is need to better understand the magnitude, contextual specificities and knowledge gaps per country in the Generation G program to inform advocacy initiatives. This research also offers a possibility to learn about a large variety of existing (and perhaps proven) prevention and mitigation measures. Both types of data will support the Generation G programme partners to address the prevention of online GBV in the last two years of programme implementation (2024-2025) and in future programmes.  

Suggested research questions

1. What is known about TFGBV in general (latest insights), including accountability mechanisms at global level.

2. What is known about TFGBV in the different Generation G implementing countries in terms of nature, extent and impact (at individual and societal level, including at the level of ‘ online civic space’)? Are there important differences between countries?

3. What are the knowledge gaps with regards to nature, extent, and impact of TFGBV per country?

4. What is in place in terms of laws and policies in these different countries to prevent and address TFGBV and how do they function, where are the legal gaps?

5. Who are key players in the field of successfully addressing and preventing TFGBV in the different countries, and globally (CSO’s, influencers, governments, other..) and what is their role? Which activities are Generation G partners already undertaking against online GBV and which resources are available already among programme partners?

6. Which accountability mechanisms are in place (at country, regional and global level) and which ones can be leveraged reasonably within the Generation G programme to address TFGBV?

7. What are country specific and global level recommendations to (better) address and prevent TFGBV within the Generation G programme?

Method

We expect the consultant to make use of:

• A systematic literature review, including grey literature.
• Potentially big data/ social media/ moderation policies analysis.
• Interviews with key stakeholders in the different Generation G implementing countries

(Key stakeholders are to be identified and validated with support from the Generation G programme including staff from country coalitions. Stakeholders consulted should represent a variety of youth and adult stakeholders including those with programmatic, academic and policy experience).

Guiding principles for research: apart from standard ethical principles in research, we expect the consultant to apply an intersectional and user-focused approach to this research. 

Deliverables

1. Inception report explaining the methodology that will be used and the network to be employed by the consultant to identify and access key sources for document review and interviews (including an explanation how potential language barriers will be overcome in the review of literature in Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic and French)

2. Ethical clearance (in consultation with Rutgers)

3. Report phase 1: A scoping review report based on academic and grey literature and potentially big data analysis

4. A presentation of report phase 1 to the Generation G Programme Team and reference group (also to allow the Generation G team to decide whether there is need to narrow down the focus of phase 2 on a selected number of countries).

5. Report phase 2: building on phase one, this part of the study will be based in primary data collection (interview) and supporting literature to address remaining research questions.

6. A webinar to disseminate key findings to the Generation G partnership

7. Online workshops per country coalition to discuss findings and recommendations and facilitate discussion on how to integrate online GBV prevention activities in year plans 2024-2025 (annual planning starts in August-Sept)

8. One academic publication submitted for review, co-authored with Generation G reference group staff members

Timeline

• 1 May 2023 ( expected start of assignment) until end of June 2023 for deliverables 1 to 5.
• July-August 2023 for deliverables 6 and 7.
• 30 September 2023 for deliverable 8.

Budget

Maximum budget € 30.000. (Including VAT and translation costs for interviews where relevant)

The successful applicant

Generation G is looking for a (small team of) consultant(s) meeting the desired criteria such as the following:

• Master’s degree in social sciences or related field;
• Fluent in English, ideally also speaking French and/ or Arabic and/or Bahasa Indonesia;
• Experience in conducting research and publishing on different aspects of GBV, including TFGBV;
• Good understanding of digital social platforms and their content moderation policies and practices;
• Understanding of different advocacy mechanisms that could be leveraged with the expected research finings
• Proven experience in conducting literature research;
• Proven experience with (online) interviewing;
• Accessible writing skills;
• Knowledge of human rights, gender justice, gender-transformative lobbying and advocacy, intersectionality, advocacy mechanisms and civic space;
• Ability to work independently, take initiative and respond appropriately to constructive feedback;
• Experience in sharing and discussing findings with clients and partners online.

How to apply

Are you interested in this assignment? Then we invite you to apply by sending in a 1 page proposal (see below for more information) and a CV highlighting relevant experience(s). Please send these no later than 03 April 2023. We expect to conduct the first round of interviews in the week of 17 April 2023 and the second round of interviews (if needed) in the week of 24 April 2023. Please take these dates into account.

• Please limit the proposal text to no more than 1 to 2 pages. The proposal text should be a narrative demonstrating the following:
• Your track record on conducting studies on the theme of Technology- Facilitated GBV and related themes
• Your experience with research for evidence based advocacy
• A brief explanation of the approach you will apply to this study
• A planning and a budget
• Please send at least one, preferably two recent studies/writing examples on these themes with your application.