ALT Feminist Learning Circle: 5 Dec, 13 - 14.30 UTC Your ex is not a hacker but you can be! with Martu and Amarelu You just broke up with your partner. He set up your devices and accounts when you were together. You feel unsure, worried and scared. Is it really that easy for an ex to hack your phone?

ALT Feminist Learning Circle 5 Dec 13 - 14.30 UTC Your ex is not a hacker but you can be! with Martu and Amarelu <3 Main body text: How does spyware ACTUALLY get on a device? Small text: Can your partner or ex install stalkerware on your phone without you knowing about it?

ALT Outlined illustration of a tunnel that has two figures at the end. Text: “For an hour, he pulled up photos of women activists with their full names and questioned our ideals, our motives, and the way we dressed and held ourselves.”

ALT Partial depiction of an outlined illustration of a tunnel that has two figures at the end. Text:“Groups from in and out of the country would question our ideals, share and attack our posts from social media, and question our intentions in livestreams to thousands of followers.”

ALT Patterns of the outlined illustration of a tunnel that has two figures at the end. Text:“While I tried to guard my own privacy, it was during these campaigns that my extended family came to know of my work. I was warned against doing what I wanted to do. It was unnecessary, they said, humiliating and beneath me.”

ALT Outlined illustration of a tunnel that has two figures at the end. Text:“I was betraying my community. I was challenging God. An uncle pulled me aside and said, “Whatever you’re doing, I hope you know what you’re getting into. You’ll have to answer for your actions in hell one day.” (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.

ALT An outlined illustration of three women photographed together, close to each other. Text: “We have experienced repression and harassment from the Hierarchical Church, from large landholders and from the government, who for decades accused our struggle of [being communist].”

ALT Text with block patterns behind: “The bishop used mass services to question young people, telling the congregation that it was communism.” (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.

ALT Illustration of a long-haired person holding up a signboard: We the people of India. Behind them is a fire.

ALT Four panels of illustrations. Panel 1: A yelling mouth coming out of a phone screen with eyes on it. Panel 2: A figure surrounded by browser tabs filled with insults and hate speech. Panel 3: Two hands pointing towards a figure on the corner. Part 4: A phone with text on the screen: Lock your profile. Social media icons and text bubbles coming out of it.

ALT A browser tab with web address: http://shameladyboy.sendthreats.com The screen is divided into multiple panels with eyes, figures of women, hate speech, and sexual advertisements.

ALT Browser tab with the same web address. Text: “The act of voicing dissent, engaging in political praxis, or even articulating alternative ideas has historically entailed significant socio-political risks… leaving them more vulnerable in a world governed by the digital.” Under digital siege: How marginalised genders survive online stalking in India

ALT In spiky text bubbles: “Mujerzuela,” “Sayona,” “Loca,” and “Qué buena que estás” with social media icons around them. Text: “In politics, words are used to disqualify women’s capacities and devalue them as people in the eyes of the public.” Venezuela’s election processes display layered forms of violence combining gender, ethnicity, and political repression.

ALT An illustration of a panopticon with light shining from it. Text: Female candidates received 60% more online attacks linked to their gender than male candidates in Venezuela’s 2023 opposition primaries. Source: ProBox and the C-Informa coalition

ALT A partial illustration of a panopticon with light shining from it. Text: “This is something that has been taking place for years, with consistent reputational attacks that don’t happen in the case of men.” — Valentina Aguana Conexión Segura y Libre (Venezuelan digital rights organisation)

ALT A partial illustration of a panopticon with light shining from it. Text: This constant barrage of targeted attacks — both sexualised and dehumanising — seeks to discredit women’s intellectual and political capacities as well as erode their legitimacy as public figures. (in small text) This post has been adapted from a collection on militarisation and technology by Safety For Voices.

ALT On a dark blue background are icons of low battery, computers, phones, and broken hearts. Text: Feminist Learning Circle 5 Dec 13 - 14.30 UTC Your ex is not a hacker, but you can be! With Martu and Amarelu <3 Take Back The Tech logo on the bottom left corner.

ALT Outlined illustration of a woman speaking on a mic. Text: “I was only 21 when I learned the military government could be watching me even in my bedroom, not through a person but through my phone.”

ALT Wavy patterns on the side. Text: “Female activists like me endured mockery of our appearance, sexually explicit photo edits, rape threats and death threats, all knowing these threats could materialise.”

ALT Screenshot of a message on a phone with text as follows: ALERT: State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID. These attackers are likely targeting you individually because of who you are or what you do. If your device is compromised by a state-sponsored attacker, they may be able to remotely access your sensitive data, communications, or even the camera and microphone. While it’s possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously

ALT Wavy patterns on the side. Text: “Writing this is my way of refusing to be erased. I want them to know: you did not win. I am still here. I have not stopped fighting. And I will continue for those who can’t.” — Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul Thai Human Rights Activist

ALT Illustration of a pair of canvas shoes with flowers blooming out of it. Text: On one of the days of continuous protests in a suburban area of Yangon[...] two military trucks entered recklessly while I was singing the protest song and leading the chants.

ALT Illustration of flowers. Text: I had never gotten hit by this kind of fear before. I asked myself, “What am I afraid of?” I was scared of getting caught by the soldiers for sure. At the same time, I felt anger.

ALT Illustration of flowers. Text: bell hooks said: Fear is the primary force upholding structures of domination. It promotes the desire for separation, the desire not to be known. When we choose to love we choose to move against fear – against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect – to find ourselves in the other.

ALT Illustration of flowers. Text: When someone asks me now what my biggest fear is, I answer “losing freedom” as an individual and as a collective group of people. I believe the first stage of freedom from fear is to notice and accept its existence. From there, we can find ways to overcome and be healed from its wounds. (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.

ALT Illustration of two figures having a conversation. One says: Bye bye gender ideology. The other, while looking at their phone, says: Western propaganda. Text: In August 2022, amidst political unrest and a worsening cost-of-living crisis, Pakistani influencers launched an anti-trans moral panic.

ALT An illustration of a group of people in a pro-trans protest while a large hand with a hammer comes down on them. Text: In Pakistan, influencers targeted the centuries-old Khawaja Sira community (historically referred to as hijra), accusing them of being a foreign import despite their deep roots in South Asian history and spiritual traditions.

ALT An illustration of a group of people in a pro-trans protest. Text: Mehloob*, a trans woman who spent nearly a decade as a trans rights defender, carefully maintained a low profile. Online hate grew, and anti-trans targeted anyone whose appearance or voice didn’t match idealised gender norms.

ALT An illustration of a group of people in a pro-trans protest. Text: In an increasingly hostile digital environment where platforms prioritise engagement over safety, coordinated attacks cannot be curbed — leaving activists vulnerable. Self-doubt, doxxing, deep fakes, harassment and physical harm become consequences. (in small text) This post has been adapted from a collection on militarisation and technology by Safety For Voices.

ALT Illustration of a group of women looking at their phones together. Text: 1,428 acts of aggression Against land defenders In the last 5 years.

ALT Image of a woman cycling. Text: How Ayesha’s cycling group in Pakistan started with a bike commute… and a Facebook post! More than 50 girls signed up within the first hour, but nobody had a bike.

ALT Partial image of a woman cycling. Text: In her city, biking — even though therapeutic — wasn’t a safe activity for women. So even though there was interest, women didn’t own bikes. “If you get the bikes, would you be interested in running a girls’ cycling group?”

ALT Hand-drawn element of a cycling route and a cycle. Text: That’s how the first-ever girls cycling club in Karachi was born: "Ride, Roll, Lead” What started with two cycles turned into 10 cycles within a month.

ALT Image of a woman cycling. Text: “Cycling, when done in a community, becomes more than just movement. It's an act of resistance, existence, visibility, and a source of joy amidst all life’s problems.” (in small text) This post has been adapted from an anthology by Women Human Rights Defenders by Safety For Voices.

ALT Illustration of a woman working on a computer. In the background are windows opening up to a warscape. Text: “What we saw during the last war, particularly the escalation, was that there were warning signs for people who work on documenting violence, that if you’re documenting what’s going on in the ground, you may become a target.” — Ramzi Kaiss, a researcher with Human Rights Watch (on the war in Lebanon)

ALT Illustration of a window opening up to a warscape. Text: Kaiss has been a part of multiple HRW investigations documenting Israel’s targeted technology-driven location attacks on media and aid workers in Lebanon in the last 15 months, including the one that killed Najjar, Reda and Qassem last October. Israel has consistently denied HRW’s investigations, calling them false.

ALT Illustration of a window opening up to a warscape. Text: Women media workers in Lebanon have historically faced discrimination and harassment within close quarters, especially the Lebanese political parties. The recent past has seen Lebanese women journalists being compelled to flee the country, or being imprisoned for their work.

ALT “In a country like Lebanon, where, already in peace times, there exists discriminatory laws against women, especially ones that don’t protect them from physical and sexual abuse, reporting on war becomes even more challenging for women.” This post has been adapted from a collection on militarisation and technology by Safety For Voices.

ALT Image of women sitting around a table and talking. Text: People imagine activism is glamorous, the hashtags and panels. But we cry in matatus. We skip meals. We stretch stipends whenever they find us. We attend funerals of girls we couldn’t save.

ALT Text on a patterned background: We don’t all wear capes. Many of us wear aprons, lesos, worn-out hope, and a knowing smile that hides exhaustion.

ALT Text on a patterned background: In meetings, our voices as women are often interrupted. In protest planning, our safety is an afterthought. We are told we are too emotional, too soft, too distracted by our children, our hormones, our families. But we show up. Every time.

ALT Text on a patterned background with women talking on the side: Honestly, sometimes, we just want to rest. To pause. To breathe. But guilt comes flooding in. Who will carry the work? Who will protect the girls? Who will answer the calls?

ALT Image of a group of security officials looking at multiple screens showing civilian footage. Text: “Security officials treat people of my gender as if it’s a weak spot to shut us down”. How gender is weaponised against Women Human Rights Defenders in Kashmir

ALT Image of a group of security officials looking at multiple screens showing civilian footage. Text: For women human rights defenders in Kashmir, technologies of war—particularly digital surveillance—have been re-engineered to operate as intimate tools of intimidation. Not only are their public actions monitored, but their private lives are dissected under the state’s algorithmic gaze.

ALT Partial image of a group of security officials looking at multiple screens showing civilian footage. Text: Security officials use journalists’ digital presence to dissect private lives, from everyday movements to information on their families, during summons. This often means endangering sources or personal privacy.

ALT Partial image of a group of security officials looking at multiple screens showing civilian footage. Text: Women journalists are especially forced to keep their profile low because the intimidation uses their gender identity to silence them. This post has been adapted from a collection on militarisation and technology by Safety For Voices.

ALT Central image of a woman speaking on a phone with a mass of people around her. Text: “It’s not just about politics. It’s about humiliation. They turn our private lives into weapons.” How surveillance became a political strategy in Ethiopia

ALT Image on the side of people milling about. Their eyes are completely white and screen-like. Text: Surveillance in Ethiopia has evolved beyond a mere function of the state. (and deployed against women, its effects are particularly devastating.)

ALT Image on the bottom left corner of people with screen-like eyes peeking out. Text: Tools once reserved for military intelligence—call interception, movement tracking, metadata harvesting—are now used to intimidate, humiliate, and silence women human rights defenders (WHRDs).

ALT Image on the bottom of a group of people with screen-like eyes. Text: This ecosystem thrives on fear. Surveillance doesn’t merely extract information—it amplifies vulnerability, intersecting with deep-rooted misogyny, stigma, and social exclusion. This post has been adapted from a collection on militarisation and technology by Safety For Voices.