Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence: A Critical Scoping

The document critically examines the 'turn towards technology' in humanitarian aid, specifically regarding sexual violence. It warns that technological solutions often fail due to inadequate problem definitions and the exclusion of affected populations. The author identifies four key areas of concern: the creation of 'digital bodies' (data representations of physical people), the use of intrusive wearables for reproductive and health tracking, the 'technologization' of safeguarding through quantification and criminal law, and the use of data-driven vulnerability assessments that may render male victims invisible. Finally, it cautions against 'humanitarian experimentation,' where untested technologies are deployed in fragile environments without sufficient ethical frameworks, potentially introducing new harms to victims of gender-based violence.

• The creation of 'digital bodies'—digital representations consisting of images, biometrics, and data—introduces a double risk where compromising the security of the digital body can directly compromise the security and well-being of the physical body.
• Humanitarian wearables, including devices for tracking health and delivering reproductive control, may be legitimated by the urgency of emergency contexts, potentially leading to intrusive tracking in the Global South that mirrors colonial practices of bodily control.
• The 'technologization' of safeguarding—exemplified by the Soteria vetting project—shifts the focus toward quantification, remote control, and criminal law, which the author argues is a simplistic solution that obscures complex power relationships.
• Data-driven screening tools, such as UNHCR's Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF), often rely on a priori assumptions that women and children are the most vulnerable, which can make the specific gendered vulnerabilities and sexual violence experienced by men invisible.
• The framing of gender-based violence as an 'innovation opportunity' encourages 'humanitarian experimentation,' where untested technologies are deployed in unstable environments without adequate risk analysis or normative frameworks, risking the distribution of new harms to aid recipients.

APA

Sandvik, K. B. (n.d.). Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence: A Critical Scoping. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/524ca105-41c6-4334-abbb-c434849749c7/Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence A Critical Scoping.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora. Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence: A Critical Scoping. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/524ca105-41c6-4334-abbb-c434849749c7/Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence A Critical Scoping.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sandvik |first1=Kristin Bergtora |title=Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence: A Critical Scoping |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/524ca105-41c6-4334-abbb-c434849749c7/Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence A Critical Scoping.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sandvikndtechnologizing, author = {Sandvik, Kristin Bergtora}, title = {{Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence: A Critical Scoping}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/524ca105-41c6-4334-abbb-c434849749c7/Technologizing the Fight against Sexual Violence A Critical Scoping.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }