seven years, they have championed evidence-based research and policy advocacy across the
MENA region, grounding work in an ecosystem approach that links prevention and response,
while placing women and girls at the centre of the solution. Through research spanning more
than 18 Arab countries, the SecDev Foundation continues to advance understanding of the legal, institutional, psychosocial, and educational dimensions of TFVAW—building the evidence
base needed to turn awareness into action, and action into change.
For Canada’s IDRC, this work is part of their 55-year mission of championing and funding research and innovation in the global majority to drive global change and promote sustainable
development. For nearly a decade, the IDRC has been investing in research ecosystems to
understand the challenges of technology facilitated violence and has helped transform regional and global understanding of TFVAW from a hidden concern into an urgent public issue
demanding systemic response.
Together, these efforts have laid the groundwork for awareness, evidence, and change. Yet
real transformation depends on how we, as societies and individuals, choose to carry this work
forward. These stories remind us that digital applications, social media platforms and online
media, if stripped of accountability and ethics, become new frontiers of violence and harassment, and that in these domains, women and girls are disproportionately targeted and
affected.
Let these stories be catalysts for solidarity and change: for stronger protections, for collective
advocacy, for safer digital spaces. And let this collection remind us to listen and amplify these
voices of courage and ensure that no one should have to choose between her voice and her
safety again.
Ruhiya Seward, Senior Program Officer at the International Development Research Centre
(IDRC); Raed Sharif, MENA Regional Director at the SecDev Foundation; and Rawan Damen,
Director General of ARIJ.
The Illustrations shown in the book were designed using Artifical Intelligence.
9