The Insular Service for Gender-based Cyber-violence
Funded by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Equality, Youth, Children and Family and the Canary Islands Government’s Canary Islands Equality Institute and Social Policy, Accessibility, Equality and Diversity Council of Gran Canaria
Dates: January 2023 to December 2026
Scope: Institutions, Social Projects
Services: Research, Evaluation, Materials, Consultancy, Training
Description:
The Insular Service for Gender-based Cyber-violence was created with the aim of providing a specialised response to gender-based violence that takes place in the online space and affects adolescents, adult women and minors in their care, residents of Gran Canaria.
This specialised service, set up with funding from the Department of Equality, Diversity and Transparency of the Cabildo, is part of the Network of Services for Prevention, Care and Shelter for Women and Minors Victims of Gender Violence in Gran Canaria (hereinafter, the Network). It includes different areas of intervention that address gender-based cyber-violence from prevention, advice to the Network and relevant entities, as well as direct care, all under a multidisciplinary approach that includes an area of psychology, a legal area and a third area specialising in cybersecurity and online self-defence.
As it is a pioneering, specialised and integral service in the Canary Islands and one of the first in Spain, its activation was carried out gradually since January 2023, starting with the development of informative and didactic materials for the different key actors, review of legislation, current inter-institutional protocols, as well as the development of proposals for new coordination, referral and communication procedures for the adequate prevention and attention to gender-based cyber-violence, which included the upcoming launch of its own web space. In a second phase, it started advising on cases of gender violence that were already managed by the Network and that had a high digital content, and to start advising and training in prevention and attention to gender-based cyber-violence for the different key entities. In the third phase, attention to the general public has been opened, both in person and online, depending on the cases and the availability of transfer.
