It was noted violence against women is still rampant; the main cause being unequal power relations between men and women. Efforts have been made by CSOs (awareness raising, advocacy for legal and policy reform, GBV related services etc), and government in terms of putting in place some legal reforms however, gaps still exist. These include among others;

• —         Strong attitudes at all levels, regarding equality of women and men
• —         Lack of political will to domesticate some protocols e.g. domestication of the Maputo protocol has not been easy.
• —         Lack of gender specific laws and process of making them is very hard. Reference was made to low funding of the Ministry of Gender (the core ministry in relation to GBV and other rights issues)
• —         And limited feminist analysis leading to not addressing the root cause of VAW 
• 
  
• An Issues paper on VAW and ICT in Uganda was presented during the workshop. The paper raises key issues about VAW and ICT. It is noted that there is awareness that ICT can be useful in getting information on gender based Violence and raising awareness to the public and global community.   
• 
  
• However, despite such potential and opportunities provided by ICT, there are emerging negativities especially when ICT is used to entrench stereotypes and unequal relations. For example the rapid adoption of mobiles has been accompanied with some vices like invasion of privacy through SMS stalking, monitoring & control of partners’ where about. There is also growing violence around the technologies with increasing GBV cases triggered around phone use. The ever present pornography and Internet based abuses are of concern though less discussed in the Ugandan public. The emerging power of social networking websites was identified as a new threat/ avenue likely to bring trouble couples; Facebook is increasingly becoming a trigger for VAW.  
• 
  
• It was acknowledged that the link between ICT use and GBV is hardly addressed. Actors seem to be preoccupied with expansion, profit and taxation issues without much emphasis on the ramifications on GBV resulting from adoption.  
• 
  
• Best practices in ICT use to combat VAW were identified; use of discussion lists and SMS in raising awareness by WOUGNET, use of Internet to raise awareness and mobilise action locally and internationally by ISIS WICCE, use of radio and listening clubs (Action AID) and use of use of mobile phones to report cases on VAW to mention but a few. However, use of ICTs in the fight against VAW is still limited and there is need for CSOs to further explore this opportunity. 
• 
  
• Some of the strategies / responses suggested during the national strategy workshop include the need to;

·         Increase availability and accessibility of VAW related services countrywide e.g. PEP, quality counseling and referrals, etc

·         Coordination among organizations doing advocacy – grassroots and national level.

·         ICT policy advocacy to ensure that all ICT related policies respond to gender needs

Forge strong partnerships around issues of gender and VAW in particular

·         Promote use of mobiles in reporting VAW

·         Surveillance

• Participants were also introduced to Tech Back the Tech tactics of reclaiming ICTs to end Violence and the Femist Tech eXchange (FTX), an approach that prioritizes feminist perspectives, women’s rights and movement building to improve the skills of feminists and women's rights movements in the creative and strategic use of ICT among others.   
• 
  
• WOUGNET is implementing the “Strengthening Women's Strategic Use of Information and Communications Technologies to Combat Violence against Women and Girls project”. The project builds on the APC WNSP’s work on VAW and ICTs and is aimed at helping women participants negotiate the fraught terrain of the new digital landscape in which ICTs hold out both the promise of greatly increased freedoms and also the growing concerns about privacy and security. 
• 
  
• The rationale of the project is that the intersection of violence against women and girls and ICT is a critical area for engagement in which only a handful of women’s rights activists are active. APC also recognises that women’s rights organisations working to address violence against women and girls have not been able to use ICT in a more strategic manner.   
• 
  
• The project will target marginalized women, survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence, vulnerable women especially the poor, rural and migrant women, teenage girls. A multi-faceted approach to the intersection between ICT use and violence against women and girls, will be used which includes skills, knowledge, advocacy and community building.    
• 
  
• Copies of the presentations at the NSW will be made available for download soon.