Deadline: 11-Apr-21
End Violence and the Technology Coalition have launched the Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund to tackle online child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). They are seeking proposals for research that will expand knowledge of online CSEA and explore the most effective measures for preventing it.
The objective is to advance the understanding of experiences and patterns of online CSEA for child and adolescent victims as well as offenders and would-be offenders and learn from effective efforts (behavioral, technological, and educational) to prevent, deter and eradicate it.
Research should increase their understanding and provide the application of:
- Efficacy and impact of online CSEA deterrence and prevention interventions, including an understanding of offender pathways and children’s digital experiences. This includes increasing the evidence base for effective, actionable industry reporting to and investigation by the appropriate authorities; impactful education and outreach strategies; and strengthening the capacity of all stakeholders in preventing, disrupting and responding to online CSEA.
- Evolving technology may present new or exacerbate existing threats by contributing to changes in offenders or children’s behaviour or creating new challenges and risks. The research could provide solutions to respond to implications of evolving technology, for example, abuse detection in encrypted environments or real-time reporting in live streams. This area of focus also includes potential solutions and opportunities offered by technology developments for risk mitigation and better tools and strategies around behavioral interventions.
- Well-being, collaboration and support for survivors, improving well-being and resilience for staff such as content moderators and others, as well as enhancing collaboration among all sectors working to end online CSEA.
- Policy and legal considerations are critical to shaping online CSEA deterrence and response. In this channel, the research could include assessment of policy implementation over time and upstream interventions such as public health or safety-by-design approaches; addressing age-appropriate design and experiences; and understanding how privacy and ensuring children’s rights intersect in the fight against CSEA.
Funding Information
- Winning proposals will be awarded grants from $20,000 to $250,000.
What they will fund?
- They are actively seeking submissions of proposals from non-profit organizations, such as research institutes and academic institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international organizations.
- Consortia are also encouraged to apply; however, the organization submitting the application will be considered the main grantee, bearing all the contractual responsibilities vis-à-vis End Violence.
What they will not fund?
- End Violence does not provide core organisational funding for non-profit organisations (including such as research institutes and academic institutions, civil society organisations (CSOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and international organisations).
- Multiple proposals from the same institution are acceptable; however, consideration will be given to ensure diversity of grant recipients and therefore applications from the same institution will be carefully evaluated with this in mind. A maximum of two grants will be awarded per institution. Researchers may only be named project lead on one application; however, project leads may be a supporting researcher on another application.
- The priority of this Call is on actionable research for enhancing the capacity of the technology industry to prevent, deter and eradicate online CSEA; however, consideration will be given to enhancing the capacity of all stakeholders, such as hotlines, educational organisations and first-responders and other similarly-focused organisations, to address online CSEA and make children safe online. The proposed research should not duplicate existing research. Documentaries, journalism, and oral history projects are not eligible for this solicitation.
Eligibility Criteria
The Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund is looking to provide project grants for research to non-profits as well as consortia with non-profits (i.e. such as research institutes and academic institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international organizations) as the primary applicant. Only entities that fulfill these mandatory requirements will be considered eligible:
- Legally registered non-profit entity;
- The research addresses one or more of the four areas of the 2021 Open Call;
- All funding will be directed to an institution, not to individuals;
- The research project lead may submit one proposal;
- At a minimum, the applicant organization should have demonstrated relevant prior expertise and/or research experience;
- The organization has a safeguarding policy in place or is willing to develop a policy.
- What is the geographical focus of the Open Call?
- This Open Call is global. They encourage proposals from researchers, or collaboration with researchers, that are based in or with situational awareness of the country/countries being researched.
- End Violence and the Technology Coalition encourage applicants from diverse contexts, countries, and cultures, as well as applications with representation from or inclusion of Global South countries.
Terms & Conditions
Please read these terms carefully before proceeding.
- By submitting this proposal, you are authorising End Violence and the Advisory Group to evaluate the proposal for a potential award, and you agree to the terms herein.
- You agree and acknowledge that personal data submitted as part of the proposal, including name, mailing address, phone number, and email address of you and other named researchers in the proposal may be collected, processed, stored and otherwise used by End Violence for the purposes of administering the website, reporting to donors and evaluating the contents of the proposal.
- You acknowledge that neither party is obligated to enter into an official agreement as a result of the proposal submission, End Violence is under no obligation to review or consider the proposal, and neither party acquires any intellectual property rights as a result of submitting the proposal. End Violence reserves the right to withdraw at any time and the applicant agrees to not take any action to bring End Violence into disrepute.
- Applicants represent and warrant that they have the authority to submit a proposal in connection with this RFP and grant the rights set forth herein on behalf of their organization. Any problems that arise related to IP or data privacy are solely the responsibility of the applicant.
- A sample grant confirmation letter with its legal stipulations and conditions is available for interested applicants.
For more information, visit https://www.end-violence.org/tech-coalition-safe-online-research-fund
