CITAD Urges Women To Protect Themselves Against Male Domination Through ICT

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) had called on women and girls to acquire Information and Communication Technology, ICT education in order to protect themselves against male domination in the spheres of life.
Maryam Ado Haruna, Programme Officer,
Gender and Internet Advocacy in CITAD, made the call on Sunday, at a press conference to mark this year’s campaign against Gender Violence Online, GVO, tagged 16 Days of Activism.
According to her, the campaign, which was introduced by Association for Progressive Communications’ Women’s Programme (APCWNSP)  in 2006, was initiated with a hash tag #TBTT,  Take Back The Tech.
She said the campaign took turn on engaging students in different schools on the topic “Understanding GBVO: its effects on our society”, as well as “Countering Gender Violence Online: Towards a safer online space for young girls in Nigeria”.
She explained that, other activities for this year’s campaign  include discussion programmes on both radio and TV stations respectively.
Mrs Haruna added that,  the campaign announced actions that combine creative and strategic use of Information and Communication Technology.
 “Campaigners organise actions that respond to their local priorities, such as workshops on online safety, media monitoring on rape reporting, solidarity actions on the streets and in online spaces, and discussions on women’s right to privacy.
“CITAD feels it is necessary therefore to involve the Media, which is an important stakeholder in the quest of combating gender violence against women and girls online, empowering them with digital skills and protection of women and girls digital rights.
“CITAD hopes you shall use your voices to reach the larger society so that the society could fully understand the menace of online gender violence and also take action in countering it.
“Together, we can make our society better and safer for all women and girls both online and offline. Remember, for our nation to become fully developed, we have to support women and girls who constitute 50% of the total population, to become self-empowered and or reliant. The nation can never progress if 50% of it’s population is dependent on the other half, ” she said
The campaign is part of the UN-sanctioned 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence which begins on November 25 each year. It is our right to shape, define, participate, use and share knowledge, information and technology, and to create digital spaces that are safe and equal.