Abstract
Gender-based violence (GBV) has become one of the big global sustainability challenges estimated at costing the global economy $1.5 trillion per annum (United Women, 2016). GBV refers to any kind of verbal, emotional, sexual, financial and/or physical harm directed at an individual because of gender (United Nations, 2023). Although men and boys also experience GBV, the majority of victims of GBV are women and girls as it is estimated that one in three women globally will experience sexual or physical violence in their lives (World Health Organisation, 2023). Technology has introduced new ways of responding to and addressing global sustainable challenges in society, including issues such as GBV. Mobile safety apps to help victims of GBV have been developed. However, gender digital divide is at its highest in Africa whereby fewer women have access to internet than men, especially in rural areas (Okwatch, 2023). This includes access to mobile safety apps such as, the GBV apps to ensure the safety of women and eliminate GBV in society (United Nations Women, 2022).
The aim of this study was to investigate access to and use of mobile safety apps to raise awareness about these apps to stimulate change. The study was conducted in one of the villages in the Moretele Municipality called Cyferskuil. The study used a qualitative method to explore access and use of mobile safety apps by low-income women. The population was low-income women who were between the ages of 27 and 42 as of 2023. These were unemployed women who depended on SASSA grants for a living. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The study followed all necessary ethical guidelines, rigour and trustworthiness were ensured. The main limitations of the study was a small sample size and the duration of the interviews was less than the expected 30 minutes and this prevented the researcher from obtaining more of the in-depth insights.
The emerging paradigm of strategic communication was used as a meta-theoretical paradigm for the study because it is based on a multi-stakeholder issue of GBV to explore access to and use of mobile safety apps to address this issue. The key finding of this study was that low-income women in Cyferskuil lack access to mobile safety apps to address the issue of GBV. This is because the majority of the participants stated that men have more access to technology than women in their community. There is the challenge of the gender digital divide because women lack knowledge and cannot afford these technologies. Nevertheless, the study shed light on the unequal access of technology by low-income women in a rural area in South Africa for addressing GBV. The study concludes by recommending action studies to stimulate education and access to technology to help low-income women have access to technology for addressing GBV.