This research addresses genocide as a universal continuum of settler colonialism through its imbrications with technology and gender. The authors looked at genocide as a common occurrence for Indigenous and colonised peoples, despite what historical erasure tells them – faced with endless colonial expansion and capitalism, they have theorised this recurring reality and condition as “endless genocide”. Yet, in the era of AI-automated annihilation, the authors also bring us through the many questions on what and how a truly decolonial act of resistance looks like – what sabotaging the tools of colonial genocide and occupation, and embracing limitations as anti-colonial praxis, could look like.

The research challenges the monolithic victimhood narrative of how online gender-based violence affects LGBTQIA+ individuals in Ethiopia by investigating the ways LGBTQIA+ individuals resist, find solidarity and express joy in living their truths online, despite the violence and hostility. By incorporating intersectional analysis, examining the coping mechanisms and means of resilience, the research hopes to contribute to a safer and more inclusive online environment for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Through friendships, allyship, romantic relationships, collective advocacy and faith, this research draws on a diverse group of study participants, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community both in-country and in-exile, and feminist activists. In total, 58 in-depth interviews were conducted – 50 with LGBTQIA+ individuals and eight with feminist advocates. 

As a feminist hacker organisation, MariaLab questions how digital forensics can be used to address TFGBV cases, with the aim of developing feminist helplines through the systematization and improvement of consensual digital forensics. This research report starts with the hypothesis that improving their knowledge for the identification and collection of evidence for forensic analysis would improve their collective capacity to generate data about digital threats from an intersectional and feminist perspective. The central objective of this research is to boost the development of feminist helplines through the systematisation of information and the development of knowledge in digital forensics.

This research examines how black women and gender non-conforming persons experience TFGBV differently due to historical and geopolitical factors, and how TFGBV is used to silence bloggers and journalists doing feminist work. With a decolonial feminist approach, the project aims to take a historically contextualised view on GBV, recognising patriarchy’s colonial roots within the context of South Africa and the African continent and actively resisting coloniality through knowledge production. The research employed both digital archiving methods and one-on-one narrative interviews and engaged in both communal and individual efforts to exercise critical reflexivity, acknowledging the power dynamics that exist within the research process by recognising our markers of intersectional identities and how they shape our theorising and retelling of the experiences of black women and gender non-conforming persons’. 

Adopting an intersectional and participatory approach, this research shows the stories of how 14 transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse people experience TFGBV, what strategies they employ to resist and safeguard themselves, and what barriers exist in accessing support. Crucially, the research addressed the underexplored terrain: the intricate ways TFGBV intersects with other marginalisations — caste, class, religion, disability, and region — within the Indian context. In return, how do these accounts for the complex ways in which these axes shape online precarity, safety and violence for TNBGD persons. By addressing the gaps, the researchers aim to generate knowledge that informs inclusive interventions, platform accountability and structural change for digital justice.

This research, led by sex workers in collaboration with feminist academics, identified the challenges and opportunities they face online, as well as the safety and self-care strategies they develop individually and collectively. Together, they build on global debates about technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), the gig economy and digital rights. Sex workers’ experiences shed light on how neoliberal logics of entrepreneurship and personal branding intersect with long-standing social stigmas to produce unique vulnerabilities. At the same time, sex workers’ strategies of resistance and solidarity illustrate the creativity and resilience with which marginalised groups negotiate hostile environments. Through 42 in-depth interviews, the study provides not only an empirical account of sex workers’ experiences in Uruguay but also a critical reflection on how digital rights must be reconceptualised to include those most excluded from state and corporate protections.

This research provides an intersectional examination of the complex array of political, economic and social structures that contribute to shaping the realities of TFV in Egypt, perpetrated by both state and non-state actors. Centring on the stories of 20 participants, including migrants and refugees, digital content creators, women's rights defenders and feminist activists, the research prioritises making visible the perspectives of a diverse range of groups affected by TFV, acknowledging their varied lived experiences. This approach is crucial not only to have an in-depth understanding of such violence but also to amplify the capacity and agency of survivors in their response and contestation.

This research explores the impacts of TFGBV on the experiences of Black Brazilian women, as well as documenting how we/they have been resisting, creating connections with each other and finding joy in spite of the hostility of online environments. Based on 12 interviews with Black Brazilian women who experienced TFGBV, 3 group gatherings with research participants, and critical observation of participants’ online presence, the findings expose some of the ways mainstream digital technologies are embedded with racism, sexism and misogynoir and show how Black Brazilian women have been carving out their/our own online spaces, building strategies for resistance, connection and possibility.

This research investigated university students’ understanding and experiences regarding TFGBV on social media and online dating platforms in South Africa. The study employed a mixed-method design to generate evidence-based data to analyse participants’ understanding and experiences regarding TFGBV on social media and online dating platforms. Data was collected through surveys and focus group discussions to examine how South African youth navigate digital spaces and the associated risks involved in building intimate relationships and forming identities. The findings of the research highlighted TFGBV remains largely underreported, and many lack the language to describe what they experienced or witnessed online, and this is further compounded by the stigma and cultural of persistent silence around online dating.

This GenderIT edition by FIRN is a collection of 11 reflections and analytical essays by FIRN and FIRN’s research partners on what it means to do research at this critical juncture, while having to go through the unbearable pain of witnessing genocide, conflict and war, gross and persistent human rights violations, criminalisation of sex work and LGBTQIA+ communities and intensification of anti-gender mobilisation, as well as operating under spectacularly failed international law, solidarity and transnational feminist movements.