{"id":256,"date":"2024-11-23T12:02:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T12:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/msm24group5\/?p=256"},"modified":"2024-12-14T22:21:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T22:21:40","slug":"data-activism-against-feminicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu.mau.se\/msm24group5\/2024\/11\/23\/data-activism-against-feminicide\/","title":{"rendered":"Data activism against feminicide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Every 10 minutes, <\/span>a woman is killed<\/span><\/a>. Violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread human rights violations, impacting half of the global population. No country is safe, although in some places, \u201cit is more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier\u201d<\/strong>, as NATO Colonel Dr. J.A. Olsen noted in <\/span>an interview<\/span><\/a> with me back in 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

On this International Day to End Violence against Women, we emphasise the vital role of data activists<\/strong> in combating feminicides and addressing biases in AI-statistics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the world becomes increasingly data-driven, collecting data on systemic violence emerges as a new and powerful form of feminist activism. The <\/span>20th Forum against Gender-Based Violence<\/span><\/a>, recently held in Barcelona, brought together renowned experts on data activism from Europe and Latin America. Today, there are over 190 feminicide data activism projects worldwide. Many of these initiatives were launched by <\/span>individuals<\/span><\/a> or small groups of women in the wake of the 2015 <\/span>Ni Una Menos<\/span><\/i><\/a> (\u201cNot One [Woman] Less\u201d) movement. Ranging from gathering news clippings to building comprehensive databases on feminicides, these projects share a common goal: challenging official statistics<\/strong> and working to end violence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFeminicide data activism points us toward a restorative and transformative data science, that is using data to heal,<\/strong> and to restore the rights and the dignity of communities. This approach fundamentally differs from the data science that we teach in institutions such as MIT, where I work\u201d, explained Catherine D\u2019Ignazio, professor and director of the <\/span>Data + Feminism Lab<\/span><\/a> at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), during the event<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Data science reinforces hegemony rather than dismantling it, according to D\u2019Ignazio. \u201cAI is accelerating the biases<\/strong> of a racist, sexist, and transphobic world. We want to challenge the narrative of the benefits of AI\u201d, added.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"MIT
MIT Professor Catherine D’Ignazio began researching feminicide data activism after learning about Maria Salguero and her “Yo te nombro” (“I Name You”) map on feminicides across Mexico. Image: @prouviolencia<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it comes to feminicides, two fundamental issues stand out: naming violence<\/strong> is essential to acknowledge it, while counting acts of violence<\/strong> is crucial to addressing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Herein lies the problem: many countries, including those in Europe and North America, lack a legal definition of feminicide<\/strong> (or femicide). \u201cIn the EU, countries like Germany strongly opposed the use of <\/span>femicide<\/span><\/i> because it sounded too close to <\/span>genocide<\/span><\/i>\u201d, said Marceline Naudi, former coordinator at <\/span>European Observatory on Femicide<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Global legal progress in the area has been led by Latin American countries, with Costa Rica (2007), Guatemala (2008) and Chile (2010) among the first countries to enact such laws. This situation perpetuates the misconception<\/strong> that violence against women and girls mainly occurs in the Global South.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, gathering (or not gathering) data proves to be inherently a political act,<\/strong> perpetuating the erasure, misrepresentation and neglect of communities. \u201cHow is it possible that, in the age of technology, we have such basic data about feminicides? It is shameful. The lack of official data constitutes institutional violence\u201d, warned Graciela Atencio, journalist and founder of the Spanish observatory <\/span>Feminicidio.net<\/span><\/a>. She emphasised: \u201cWith limited resources, we have collected data on over 60,000 feminicides since 2010. How come that we have more data than the states? The rise of the far-right and the denial of gender-based violence threaten to roll back progress on data collection\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

In contexts of conflict and war, violence against women is widely spread and more often underreported. \u201cColombia recorded 616 cases of feminicide in 2022, of which 161 were linked to narco mafias and 104 to hitmen. Feminicides increase in places with high militarisation,<\/strong> where armed men serve legal or illegal armies, and narcotrafficking operations\u201d, concluded Carol Rojas, Director of the <\/span>Colombian Observatory on Feminicides<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

AI and data colonialism<\/b><\/h4>\n

D\u2019Ignazio recalls the urgent need to decolonialise data science and AI.<\/strong> These are three key ideas shared by her during the forum, as well as in her latest book, <\/span>Counting Feminicide<\/span><\/i><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n