Designing Digital Safe Spaces for Peer Support and Connectivity in Patriarchal Contexts

Abstract

This paper explores the opportunities and challenges in designing peer-support mechanisms for low-income,low-literate women in Pakistan, a patriarchal and religious context where women's movements, social relationsand access to digital technologies are restricted. Through a qualitative, empirical study with 21 participantswe examine the cultural and patriarchal framework where shame and fear of defamation restrict the seekingof support for personal narratives around taboo subjects like abortion, sexual harassment, rape and domesticabuse. Based on our qualitative data we also conduct a second qualitative study using a technology probe with15 low-income, low-literate women to explore the specific design of peer-support technologies for supportseeking and the sharing of sensitive and taboo narratives in a deeply patriarchal society. The design concernsraised by our participants regarding privacy, anonymity and safety provide CSCW researchers with valuableguidelines about designing for social connections and support for vulnerable populations within a particularcontext.

Personalization Trade-offs in Designing a Dialogue-based Information System for Support-Seeking of Sexual Violence Survivors

“…However, Jennifer indicated storing private data may discourage survivors, so we decided not to collect direct identification information (e.g., email, date of birth), which can limit such verification procedures. Prior findings [47,50] also point out that data storage can be harmful to survivors when abusers have access to their devices or usage logs. Thus, our system has an anonymous reference protocol for future verification.…”

“…As anonymity on online platforms makes it more comfortable to disclose their experiences [4], some sexual violence survivors make disclosure on online communities for sense-making and information-seeking [5,54], but seeking information from online forums can be ignored or delayed [67,70]. Under a highly patriarchal society [47] or a threat by intimate partner abuser [27,41], wider and anonymous access has much higher priority because family members or abusers can access survivors' online activity or physical device. For example, if a system requires many steps like user registration and/or disclosure of private information, users have to leave more digital records on their device which abusers could detect.…”

Women's Perspectives on Harm and Justice after Online Harassment

“…Family harm can vary from parental neglect to spousal abuse to isolation and abandonment. In the case of online harassment, it can manifest as shame from family members, a phenomenon that has been documented in South Asian regions and may occur in other regions as well [78,104,105,117].…”

Digital Literacy and Vulnerability to Misinformation

“…For example, currently Pakistan ranks the highest in the world in terms of the gender gap in Internet access between men and women (65%) and mobile phone ownership (51%) EIU ( 2021). Several ethnographic studies indicate that patriarchal cultures often prevent women and girls from developing digital skills (Naseem et al, 2020).…”