NAIROBI, Kenya, March 22 – Google has announced a partnership with women parliamentarians under the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) that will see women politicians equipped with online safety tools and skills that will help them mitigate the impact of online trolls and cyber-bullying.
The female politicians will use Google’s free tool, Harassment Manager, to document and manage online abuse targeted at them on social media, starting with twitter.
The Harassment Manager tool reviews tweets based on hashtag, username, keyword or date enabling users to detect toxic and harmful comments and mute or block perpetrators of harassment and hide harassing replies to their own tweets.
Speaking in Nairobi, Google Eastern Africa Country Director, Agnes Gathaiya, said Google will collaborate with the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) to train women legislators and female aspirants on online safety tools thereby empowering them to combat gender-based violence.
The training, delivered through the #IamRemarkable program, is also aimed at combating gender-based violence and empowering women to overcome social and cultural barriers and speak openly about their accomplishments.
“Google cares deeply about gender equity and diversity. Through our collaboration with the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association, we are able to make programs and Digital Skills for Women so as to contribute towards restoring the gender gap in social and economic opportunity,” Gathaiya said.
“Violence against women is a serious problem and women leaders disproportionately deal with online toxicity. KEWOPA is collaborating with Google in the use of technology and training to empower women legislators against online violence,” said KEWOPA Chairperson, Gathoni Wamuchomba as she welcomed the training.
The training, sponsored by Google will use art, culture and media to promote positive social transformation.
The association has also launched its YouTube Channel, a platform that will serve as a repository for speeches, parliamentary presentations among other events where women are actively taking part in to champion their course.
