September - November 2020
SAVA - Society Against
Violence & Abuse
Speculative | Critical Research | UX Design
Exploring potential solutions to reduce cyber abuse against women and others on social media using principles from critical research
Role : Research, ideation, conceptualization
Outcome : Solutions that cater towards making social media a safer space for women
Collaborators : Akhilesh B, Denise D'souza, Disha Pradhan, Kaavya Shankar
Background
This is a research-based project that addresses violence and abuse against women through critical research frameworks and coming up with potential solutions that could combat this in cyberspace, particularly Instagram. It involves research on critical frameworks, and collaboration with MAVA (Men Against Violence & Abuse), a non-profit organization in Mumbai, India.
What is Critical Design?
It is an approach that uses a perspective on research that addresses social inequities and power dynamics among social groups in society. It particularly focuses on analyzing or critiquing the information found rather than just perceiving it as plain information. Prior to reading and analyzing the works and ideas of three renowned critical theorists, the assignment began with comprehension of the significance of critical design and critical research.
Critical Frameworks
To support the critiquing process, a few critical concepts were used from three different theorists that proved to be useful lenses to better understand what we were looking at. The introduction to this method of research and critical concepts began with a paper by Michael D. Myers and Heinz K. Klein. This further led to the introduction of Bourdieu, Foucault and Habermas, whose critical lineages were deeply studied and applied to the context.
Bourdieu
Foucault
Habermas
A Critical Perspective on Violence & Abuse in Society
The context mainly dealt with gender-based violence (GBV) and gender inequalities. We were expected to understand this area through the lens of critical concepts and develop an overall problem statement and explore possible solutions for the same keeping in mind the now and the future.
Bourdieu's concepts of capital proved to be quite applicable when it came to understanding how violence has become a part of society and acceptable up to a certain extent.
Foucault's concepts of the Panopticon model were used to understand social control and power structures influencing self surveillance.
Habermas' concepts of systems and lifeworld were useful in understanding how the culture of violence against women and girls influences society.
Detailing Research Findings
The broad context of gender based violence was divided into 3 subcategories, out of which 1 would later be closely studied.
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Role of internet or media as a safe space and the flip sides of it for women
The actions of people on social media and other online platforms are simply a mirror of who they are in real life. Social media was intended to be a platform where underrepresented groups, such as women, Dalits, and religious minorities, would have an equal chance to be heard. Many females don't think so. Women on social media are subjected to a storm of abuse every day, including rape threats and racist and sexist remarks.
Understanding social reproduction, closer look at the history of violence and abuse
Women's subordination to men and the idea of patriarchy have long existed in our society. The reproduction of socio-cultural ideals, which established the notion that "all women needed wise male counsel and cautious male direction," was made possible by cultural literature from numerous religions. These kinds of religious and cultural ideas are what perpetuate patriarchy, violence, and abuse throughout society and culture.
Necessity for power structures, and how they can be broken
In our predominantly masculine society, men make most of the decisions regarding women and other genders. It is deemed socially acceptable to normalize the abuse of power through violence and abuse in the name of discipline (in many cases, even legally). The hostile environment that has been created for women due to the imposition of power structures that favor men has made it necessary to understand them and how they could be broken.
MAVA
MAVA (Men Against Violence & Abuse) is a non-profit organization in Mumbai, India that aims to work with men and boys to prevent GBV. Most of MAVA's work depends on bringing about a change in men's attitude when it comes to women's treatment. It does so by creating a healthy and supportive environment where young boys and men get mentored. Changing the dynamics of the male peer support system through conversations that attempt to break social reproduction is something MAVA is known for. ​
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MAVA's work was closely studied through various critical lenses that questioned the eeffectiveness of their methods in tackling GBV. Once MAVA came into the picture, it was critiqued at every phase of the process since it was one of the main pointers for this project.
Transformation
The transformation process came next in our critical investigation. This phase involved brainstorming and developing revolutionary ideas after thoroughly comprehending the current issues in our society and reflecting on the history of violence and abuse that has existed in it. Some of the areas for transformation that were considered are as follows:
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1
To make individuals of dominant groups
aware of how they take part in social
reproduction when the exert power over
oppressed groups unknowingly through
everyday conversations and practices.
2
Encouraging conversations, addressing
parents since they have strong influences on children's mindsets that aid social reproduction of prejudices about gender, sexuality, normalization of domestic abuse in the family, etc.
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3
Looking at forced marriages as a context
and help perpetrators to not undermine
women's opinion unless she is supported
by a man who defends her choices.
4
Creating a safe space for women to
express their thoughts freely, limiting and
preventing online abuse and harassment.
Narrowing the Objective
The one area that stood out the most was online harassment. This was something that wasn’t being taken seriously enough and the victims are offered little support in terms of laws and regulations. Moreover, there was not much information regarding MAVA’s approach towards cases of online harassment. MAVA wasn’t holding any sessions online and didn’t have a very strong social media presence either. An attempt was made to see whether MAVA’s primary model of addressing men could be applied in tackling online harassment against gender and non-hetero sexual identities.
Reporting Systems
A significant amount of in-depth study had been done by this point to start formulating ideas for potential fixes to our problem. In order to determine if we might improve upon or at the very least use existing transformations related to our goal as a guide, we chose to start by looking at some of them.
As a major component of social media platforms, Reporting Systems appeared to have a lot of room for development after numerous meetings with HFI and the group. Since Instagram is the second-most popular social media network after Twitter and the group was more familiar with the former than the latter, its reporting mechanism was deliberately targeted.
S.C.A.M.P.E.R
The next stage was to generate suggestions for ways to make the social media reporting process better. The S.C.A.M.P.E.R method of brainstorming was selected to generate useful ideas. Prior to brainstorming, a google survey was sent to learn about the most frequent issues users encountered. The survey helped us grasp the issue and provided clarity on what we needed to concentrate on while developing solutions. The poll even showed us that Instagram is the most popular social media network, therefore we decided to work on Instagram as the social media platform.
Finalizing Ideas
There were many suggestions after brainstorming and color-coding, so a handful had to be chosen that could actually be implemented within the allotted time span. At the conclusion of the brainstorming session, three ideas from each area were chosen. The selection of the nine concepts was based on critical theories and practicality.
It was crucial to consider how these concepts would help Instagram while debating them. We didn't want to develop concepts that couldn't be put into practice. Knowing that Instagram is a large corporation, the group considered strategies for growing their user base and generating revenue. Therefore, from the start, we wanted to make sure that our suggestions contributed to Instagram becoming a safer place while also benefiting Instagram.
Final Ideas
Modify the account creation process, which would make users take policies and code of conduct seriously
Modifying reporting process via country / region so it can adhere differently to different regional language and regional slurs
"Sensitive Content" warning modificaiton
Eliminate the possibility for people with verified accounts or high social capital to benefit from reporting systems
Reverse reporting system by putting abuser through harrowing steps that usually abused person needs to
Modify the user's accessibility to certain features after being reported for a certain number of times
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Takeaways
In this project, speculative design in conjunction with critical thinking and design was heavily considered. This indicates that many hours were devoted to the research, and innumerable group conferences were held to discuss the results. The project seemed quite daunting because it was heavily research-based rather than outcome-based. But after I started the process, I just let things happen naturally and didn't try to hurry anything.
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Since I had a tendency to jump to conclusions, this project taught me a valuable lesson on how to go slowly. I was able to completely examine the context for this project and leave with a brand-new research strategy. Given how heavily the backdrop dealt with gender inequality and gender-based violence, I suddenly realized how I had been viewing the world up until that point. Because of this, I began to notice and criticize the gendered microaggressions I had to deal with on a regular basis. This project will always be a reminder that
the world we’re living in is deeply rooted in patriarchy but there is some hope that this could change over time because nothing is permanent.
