The next stage of the Orbits journey

This first leg of the Orbits voyage has come to an end — here’s where we’re going next

For the past 18 months, Chayn and End Cyber Abuse have been working together to explore and understand technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TGBV), and how we can tackle it. Given the magnitude of the problem, this has been an epic journey involving speaking to and working with over 100 individuals and organisations from different corners of the planet, and resulting in the Orbits field guide, an 120-page document that makes the case for an intersectional, survivor-centred and trauma-informed approach to tackling tech abuse, and shows what it looks like in practice.

Following the release of Orbits last month, we’ve been busy presenting Orbits at RightsCon and Re:publica, sharing blogs that deep dive into certain sections of the guide, and receiving feedback from our global community. The response has been amazing, and we’re so excited about the impact that Orbits can have now that it is out in the universe. As our funding for this project is now complete, we’ll be transitioning this project into our core programmes. At Chayn, we’re developing a training programme on intersectional, trauma-informed and survivor-centred design for tech companies, using the Orbits insights to develop new resources and services for survivors of TGBV, and exploring avenues to do more movement building and advocacy work targeting tech companies. At End Cyber Abuse, we are now actively using an intersectional, trauma-informed and survivor-centred approach towards our policy advocacy and collaborative work, looking at both existing and emerging legislation on TGBV. We are also exploring what it means to use the Orbits principles to frame and unpack what feminist approaches to technology might look like today with our communities.

As a result, this will be the last post on this blog, though we’ll keep the blog online and accessible for anyone who’d like to read it!

We’re so grateful to everyone who has supported and contributed to Orbits so far, and are keen to hear from anyone who’d like to work with us on the next stage of the Orbits journey. In particular, Chayn is looking for funders and partners to support us to take this work forward. If you’re a funder interested in supporting any of this work — or can recommend one! — get in touch with Chayn and End Cyber Abuse.