Deadline: 15-Feb-23
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) from organizations interested in submitting Statements of Interest (SOI) for programs that support the policy objective to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, including by preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV) and online abuse and harassment; principles of the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse; the leadership of the White House Gender Policy Council; and the direction of the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and the Summit for Democracy Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal (Pillar of Bolstering Democratic Reformers).
TFGBV targets all women who use technology including cis and trans women, non-binary and gender-diverse women. Some women and girls are at higher risk, especially those in the public eye, such as activists, environmental defenders, politicians, journalists, academics, advocates, and young people. TFGBV is one of the key tactics used to threaten women human rights defenders, and is often a precursor to physical violence. This violence is more frequent and can be further compounded by other identity factors such as disability, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics. TFGBV manifests in many ways, such as stalking, harassment, threats of sexual and physical abuse and violence, impersonation, hacking, image-based abuse, doxing, disinformation and defamation, hate speech, and others. It poses a grave threat to the freedom of expression and the wellbeing of women and girls around the world, as well as their participation in public life.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $740,740
- Award Floor: $500,000
Outcomes
Illustrative outcomes could include:
- direct service GBV organizations have increased capacity to innovate, prevent, protect, and respond to TFGBV;
- trauma-informed approaches are survivor-centric and created to address the root causes of TFGBV;
- accessible public resources on prevention and response to TFGBV and other forms of GBV are developed;
- GBV organizations and technology experts create space to better understand how they each approach TFGBV and improve communication and engagement;
- the gap in shared knowledge and collaboration between GBV organizations/direct service providers and technology experts is reduced;
- GBV organizations/direct service providers and technology experts collaborate to create useful technology to mitigate/ prevent TFGBV;
- the misuse of technology and TFGBV among women and girls from marginalized populations is prevented and reduced;
- an innovative and survivor-centered mechanism to address/mitigate/prevent TFGBV that can be replicated is created;
- women and girls in the public eye feel safer to engage online and have better recourse when TFGBV incidents occur;
- technology platforms better understand how their technologies can facilitate GBV and actively integrate both a gender lens and GBV civil society into the development process of their tools and policies;
- men and male allies are more engaged and better integrated into efforts to reduce TFGBV, as both potential perpetrators or survivors;
- communities, families, and the public improve understanding of and response to TFGBV so that survivors have a stronger support system and communities are better integrated into the reduction of TFGBV.
Eligibility Criteria
Organizations submitting SOIs must meet the following criteria:
- Be a U.S.- or foreign-based non-profit/non-governmental organization (NGO), or a public international organization; or
- Be a private, public, or state institution of higher education; or
- Be a for-profit organization or business (noting there are restrictions on payment of fees and/or profits under grants and cooperative agreements, including those outlined in 48 CFR 30, “Cost Accounting Standards Administration”, and 48 CFR 31, “Contract Cost Principles and Procedures”);
- Have existing, or the capacity to develop, active partnerships with thematic or in-country partners, entities, and relevant stakeholders including private sector partner and NGOs; and,
- Have demonstrable experience administering successful and preferably similar programs. DRL reserves the right to request additional background information on organizations that do not have previous experience administering federal awards. These applicants may be subject to limited funding on a pilot basis.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.