Caught in the Web: Tackling Gendered Drivers of Conflict and Exclusion in Cyberspace – CITW

This evaluation report preset the evaluation findings of the Caught in the Web (CitW) project.

→ The project developed a robust monitoring system on gendered online hate speech and cyber-SGBV in order to provide evidence-based learnings to inform and promote responses among other actors.
→ The workshops and awareness programs conducted for the members of the civil society and state institutions aimed to increase their capacity to implement or scale up existing responses effectively for gendered online hate speech and cyber-SGBV to provide better support towards affected groups.
→ The advocacy meetings and campaigns conducted among policy makers in Sri Lanka and Big Tech who play a key role within the social media platforms aimed to Influence and advocate them, drawing on the evidence and learnings built through the project in order to promote positive action which tackles GOHS and CSGBV.
→ The consultative workshops conducted for the youth, LGBTQIA and women in local government focused on challenging and improving the existing knowledge and capacity of users to create and utilize safe, respectful, and inclusive cyberspaces.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the project through relevant OECD-DAC criteria – relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and the intermediate impact, to extract lessons learnt from the project and to develop five ‘cases of change’.

METHODOLOGY

The team collected several primary and secondary data, involving a survey with 265 respondents, 19 key informant interviews with representatives from project implementers and national-level stakeholders, and 15 focus group discussions from the Sri Lankan Police, CSOs working for the upliftment of women and youth.

The survey reached a total of 265 respondents from diverse groups: Youth, LGBTQI, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Police, mental health service providers, lawyers, and other first responders and Local Government Officials in the targeted provinces; Puttalam, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Kilinochchi, Kurunegala, and Jaffna.Respondents included 35% of men and 65% of women.