Transform is a three-year global pilot initiative, which will support practical approaches to preventing, mitigating, and responding to  Technology-Facilitated Gender Based Violence (TFGBV), with a focus on addressing violence experienced by women in politics and public life.

Transform will strengthen individuals’ resilience to TFGBV, institutions’ capacity and commitment to decreasing its prevalence, and equity-focused social norms related to gender and digital citizenship to reduce the negative impact of TFGBV on the lived experience of women in all their diversity, particularly those in politics and public life, LGBTQI+ individuals, and marginalized communities. The program is being piloted in three countries: Kenya, Georgia, and Guatemala.

Transform is an Associate Award (AA) carried out under the Civil Society and Media-Strengthened Together and Advancing in New Directions (CSM-STAND) Leader with Associates Award (LWA). It is implemented by the CSM-STAND consortium, with Pact as the holder of the leader award and recipient of the AA, and IREX as implementing lead. CSM-STAND is a five-year, USAID funded award that aims to foster independent civic forces; enhance civic engagement; and build vibrant, resilient, and self-reliant civil society and media sectors that cultivate more pluralistic, democratic societies.

Transform will: 

• Seek to address the root causes of TFGBV.
• Strengthen capacity and collaboration between diverse local actors who monitor and analyze as well as prevent, mitigate, and respond to it.
• Create accountability mechanisms for those who enable and perpetrate TFGBV and reinforce positive incentives for those who seek to eliminate it.
• Catalyze public demand and support for equity-focused gender and digital citizenship norms and policy reform.

The UNFPA defines TFGBV as “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.”

TFGBV is a global phenomenon experienced disproportionately by women and girls, LGBTQI+ persons, and other marginalized groups. TFGBV is often highly contextualized linguistically and normatively, which complicates efforts to monitor and prevent TFGBV using technology tools alone.

Globally, TFGBV is increasing in frequency and form, creating an online civic space increasingly hostile to women, especially those in politics and public life.

In addition to its toll on individuals’ wellbeing, TFGBV dampens women’s civic engagement and increases self-censorship, negatively impacting institutions, communities, and countries, and exacerbating the global trend of growing digital authoritarianism.

Project activities will be implemented in three pilot country locations: Kenya, Georgia, and Guatemala.

• Increase capacity building resources (including training, education, and internal policies) and coordination between women public participation, digital democracy, anti-violence organizations, service and support organizations, civic tech groups, advocacy coalitions and other stakeholders, to advance the safety, inclusion, participation, and leadership of women on digital platforms.    
• Strengthen service and support organizations, relevant women’s public participation, digital democracy, and anti-violence organizations, and civic tech groups in delivering services to those impacted by TFGBV. 
• Strengthen the evidence base for contextualized approaches to document, prevent, mitigate, and respond to TFGBV.

• Katya Vogt, Chief of Party, kvogt@irex.org
• Rachel Bowen, Technical Advisor for Tech-Facilitated Gender Based Violence, rbowen@irex.org
• Elayne Deelen, Program Officer, edeelen@irex.org