Mobile app strikes back at violence against women

The Philippine Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) has launched an android-based app aimed at addressing technology-based violence against women (TVAW) in the country.

AksyonVAW, a mobile-based app, aims to educate its users on the dangers of TVAWs in the Philippines. It features three stories in which users can explore options on how to deal with each scenario. The stories include cyberbullying, identity theft and online harassment. Philippine laws serve as the backbone of some answers the app gives to certain situations.

In a press statement, FMA said AksyonVaw “calls on users to take control of technology and strategically use any information and communications technology for activism against gender based violence.”

Click here to download the app on the Google Play Store.

In 2012, the FMA launched a local version of the Take Back the Tech campaign, where  they started tracking and mapping TVAWs in the country. In their collated data from 130 cases, they found out that almost 74 percent of women aged 18-30 are more likely to experience online violence. Based on their data, Facebook and mobile phones are the platforms where most of the harassment happened. — Kiersnerr Gerwin Tacadena/TJD, GMA News