Tapiwanashe Hadzizi
Founder of Young Africa Intellectuals (YAL Group)
Topic: Building Youth-led Solidarity Economies: Facilitating and Addressing Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence against Children (TF SVC).
In one way or the other young people in the modern society are now digital citizens, they own a digital gadget, have access to the internet or use social media platforms for learning, business engagements, and socialization. It’s crystal clear that children and young people are the most active users of digital products/spaces or platforms.
Digital life provides vital spaces for young people and children in their diversity seeking expression and opportunity including access to basic education and social interaction and, yet it is simultaneously a vector for perpetrators and abusers targeting children, young people and adolescents. Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence against Children (TF SVC) comprises a spectrum of behaviours, including stalking, bullying, sexual harassment, exploitation, and is often associated with mis and disinformation and violent extremism, which are perpetrated online or using technology. As young people from different academic backgrounds with a shared vision and passion about realising a society free from online child sexual violence, we came together in order to push for youth-led initiatives for online safety through research and base-building of different action stakeholders in the field of child protection fraternity. Our initiative thrives to offer decision making data by highlighting prevalence, forms and drivers of online violence against children based on child centred– approaches and intersectional view.
Task:
Requirements: UM staff or students with expertise or interest in child safeguarding initiatives, psychology/social work/sociology, online safety, digital research, community development, program coordination, health promotion, project monitoring and evaluation.