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16 days campaign goes high-tech
Penny Sukhraj, Daily News (SA)
November 25, 2005

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20051124082914853C316993

Cyber dialogues, chat rooms and trans-national conferences are the high-tech way in which the 16 Days of Activism: No Violence Against Women has been taken to a new level.

The 16-day programme starts on Friday and ends on December 10, but the cyberspace activity under the banner of "making IT work for gender justice" kicks off on Friday with Genderlinks taking stock of what the programme has achieved.

Kubi Rama, the deputy director of Genderlinks, said the organisation would release an audit detailing what had been achieved as a result of last year's programme and what challenges still lay ahead. "We will also be proposing a national action plan on gender violence," said Rama.

Using IT, the co-ordinators of the cyberspace programme will cross boundaries and timelines, bringing together experts and amateurs to thrash out issues of gender violence, with the first topic being Women Trafficking.

Even language is not a barrier as common languages between nations, like isiZulu, siSwati and siNdebele which are common to Zimbabweans, Swazis and South Africans, have been used to setup virtual online chatrooms.

Namibians have the choice of English or Afrikaans rooms while north eastern Zambians can participate in the Chichewa chat room.

Local rural facilitators have also been trained in 67 centres in all nine SA provinces to ensure just about every one gets a chance to have a say.

"The trained individuals will facilitate different discussions. They will assist anyone wishing to participate in the discussion by talking them through the process and asking them what issue they would like to raise."

"People will also be invited to share experiences of what they've done in their communities which has helped and been effective in the campaign against gender violence."

And schools in Namibia and Zimbabwe will also be drawn into discussions set to include 13 Southern African countries.

"The plan is not about geography but purpose and how to best use the technology to achieve certain ends. Ultimately we really do redraw boundaries," she said.

The 16 Days culminates on International Human Rights Day on December 10 with all participants joining for a final chat in the English chat room.

A radio conference - on the media's role in covering child abuse - will also be held during the 16 Days and will be hosted by SAfm presenter Jeremy Maggs.

The conference will feature a panel of local and international media and children's rights experts, who will contextualise the representation of children and abused children in the media.

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