NPTech things I learend from Sex Workers

what i learned from sex workers.

More on this project at http://drawingbynumbers.org/what-we-are-watching/sexworkersvoices

tactical technology collective works with sex worker advocacy groups in regional stuff but wanted to do something more grass roots.

IDRC came to them with opportunity to do something with technology and sex worker advocacy groups.

one of the first solution areas was mobile.

DMSC (non-English acronym) in calcutta (60,000) has good infrastructure, set up a bank to mitigate risk of being robbed.

WNU (women's network for unity) cambodia.

problem of violence as side effect of anti-trafficking laws. individual documentation was good, but data aggregation was bad.

funders wanted them to investigate use of mobile tech, but workers tend to sell phones or turn them off. also language support for khmer scripts and literacy is low.

groups hadn't any strategies for pro-active advocacy.

data collection about violence and TTC would help develop dissemination strategy. groups were only doing protests, which were ineffective.

DMSC wanted standard collection instruments.

Martus, puredox

Subjective Atlas of Palestine informed what they suggested. Some microprojects were selected including one that correlated land prices and harassment of sex workers.

Technology is paper and spreadsheets.

Cambodian group worked with local human rights documentation NGO to educate sex workers and advocates in survey design and collecting.

Advocacy interests were about implementation of anti-trafficking law.

What did they learn:

not to focus on a specific technology, focus on advocacy and their existing campaigns