Let's Talk Human Rights

By Helena Thompson & Rachel Veneman

As part of the summer fellowship program, two University of Dayton students, Helena and Rachel, worked with Gender Tech Initiative-Uganda (GTI-U), a gender equality organization, aimed at empowering women, young girls, activists, feminists and human right defenders with skills to thwart online censorship, promote research, offer digital safety trainings and awareness in order to mitigate threats of digital attacks and protect them from online harassment. Below they describe their experiences:

Helena: I had the honor of being the social media intern for the GTI-U team. This opportunity has allowed me to really broaden my cultural worldview and to support what the GTI-U team has set out to accomplish. I thoroughly enjoy being a part of something larger than myself – something that not only impacts the women of Uganda but also women here in Kentucky, as well as people anywhere else in the world with access to the internet. 

GTI-U aims to provide relief to an issue I wholeheartedly support. Their ambition is to diminish the harassment and abuse both women and girls may endure online, and to expose them to the endless opportunities offered by the internet and how they can establish a career with their computers. 

It’s no secret that men currently dominate the technology sector – holding a majority of the jobs and leadership positions. Because of this, there has been an increasing digital literacy gap in access to training and awareness between the sexes. It’s vital that we close the gap between men and women in the technology industry to expand on both technological and social advancements. Further, women should have the right to pursue a career in any field they please without fear of discrimination inside and outside the workplace. Raising awareness about digital security training and literacy allows women to use social media without fear of risking identity theft and/or fraud. Everyone should have the right to utilize the internet without being harassed, attacked or scammed. 

Through the collaboration with Ruth Atim, the founder of GTI-U, I utilized social media to promote the organization and its ideals to our ever-growing community. I spoke with her almost daily about what posts we should be pushing out, what  resources we can share with our audience next, and how we can keep the posts interesting and easy to learn from. With the world increasingly relying on the internet, it only makes sense to utilize social media to its fullest capacity to spread awareness of our mission to people who may not know who we are. My work involved both being active on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram almost every day of the business week and researching how to expand on each platform. To do this, I performed a social media audit that examined each platform on its own and studied what days gathered the most engagement. For example, Twitter is most effective when posting between 11am-4pm on any weekday. Contrastly, Instagram is most effective when I only post two days a week, typically Wednesday and Thursday. Every platform must be catered to in order to maximize participation and engagement.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with the GTI-U team. Their cause is something I believe that everyone can benefit and learn from. Gender technology is a term that should become a part of everyone’s vocabulary, we can not learn from a pressing issue if we’re not aware of what it is in the first place. 

I can’t wait to see GTI-U’s future endeavors and although the summer has ended, I will continue to support the team wholeheartedly. 

Rachel: This summer, I had the opportunity to work as a research intern for GTI-U. I completed two research reports during my time in this role: one about information and communication technology (ICT) clubs as a solution to bridging the digital gender divide; and the other about the online harassment women face, particularly those in journalism and media careers. These reports each put the respective issues in the context of Uganda and provide recommendations and solutions for organizations and various actors involved moving forward.

Throughout my experience, I became more comfortable conducting research on a timeline with specific expectations from a supervisor. I feel more knowledgeable about the topics I researched, and I have a better understanding of the purpose that research plays in raising awareness of issues and acknowledging the work of organizations like GTI-U. My research focuses on issues of digital literacy, safety and awareness and skills building that GTI-U is actively addressing through its initiatives and programs. Overall, I gained insight into the real-world application of my research for GTI-U’s work. For example, my first report on ICT clubs analyzed the positive effects of the GTI-U initiative. I was able to show that the initiative’s implementation enables girls to have greater access to online spaces and careers in technology.

Remote work with an organization in a time zone seven hours ahead of my own presented unique challenges, but ultimately strengthened my ability to self-motivate and manage tasks independently. I communicated with my supervisors solely through WhatsApp, which was a struggle at first as it took longer to get feedback and respond with revisions than I had anticipated. However, I adjusted to this and found more confidence in my choices for report content and structure, reaching out for input less frequently and focusing on having a draft I was proud of before sending it for feedback. Unfortunately, I was not able to meet others in the organization besides my two supervisors which was a barrier to understanding the connections between various departments and initiatives. 

Overall, this internship provided me with opportunities for growth, both personal and professional. While this remote experience is different from other internships that offer  more direct engagement with staff and the organization, I still found it a beneficial learning experience. I enjoyed the work and am proud of what I produced.

Helena Thompson is a full time student attending the University of Dayton from Goshen, Kentucky. She studies political science and entrepreneurship where she ambitions a career that creates real, tangible change in the world. 

Rachel Veneman is a 2022 graduate from the University of Dayton with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She will be attending the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law this fall and is excited for her next steps towards a future legal career.