Data Activism as a means of defence against Gender-Based Violence

In the field of gender-based violence (GBV), digital platforms represent powerful tools for sharing experiences (Keller, Mendes, Ringrose, 2018) and promoting forms of feminist political and social activism (Accossatto, Sendra, 2018; Baer, 2016; Fotopoulou, 2016); yet they continue to embody traditional forms of power (Fileborn, 2019; Fileborn, Loney-Howes, 2020; Fileborn, Trott, 2021; Wånggren, 2016) and algorithmic logic (Hewa, 2021) that limit public perception of the phenomenon. Data Activism seems to respond to such issues, as a set of socio-technical practices of grassroots activism and civic engagement. Thus Big Data tech is employed to affect forms of social change (Milan, Gutiérrez, 2015) for the benefit of politically marginalised groups (Gutiérrez, 2018). Specifically, the model defined as Proactive Data Activism has positioned itself as the forerunner of an emerging "digital humanitarianism" (ibidem) in which the use of data infrastructure makes emergency and relief operations possible (Meier, 2015). This work aims to analyse the participatory modes based on data, in relation to GBV phenomena. At an international level, the existence of apps, initiatives and tools, such as Safecity (Adams et al., 2021; Karlekar, Bansar, 2018; Liu et al., 2018), the Índice nacional de violencia machista (Chenou, Cepeda-Másmela, 2019) and Our Data Bodies (Thompson, 2020) have promoted a set of activities, from participatory design with victims in online communities protected by anonymity, to the creation of 'maps of violence' through the use of participatory cartography. The next step in our research is to map Italian initiatives and compare them to international projects. This would allow us to verify Italy's current standing in the field and reflect about the opportunity to build upon international experiences to improve local initiatives related to GBV with a view to creating safer digital and offline spaces.