The Black Femme Experience of the Digital World: AI, Tech and Virtual Abuse

As technology becomes ever more woven into our daily lives, so too do the ways it can be used to harm, monitor, and silence.

Outline:

This 90-minute, entry-level workshop explores how tech abuse and emerging AI tools are reshaping the landscape of gender-based violence, particularly for Black femmes. Through an intersectional lens, participants will unpack how power, bias, and digital control intersect in the lives of survivors, and learn how to identify, prevent, and respond to tech-facilitated abuse. This workshop is a conversation-starter aiming to bring it to the table for discussion, understanding, share strategies for digital safety, and imagine pathways toward technological justice and survivor-led care.

Who is it for?

This is an entry-level course at level 1. Attendees do not need expansive knowledge of domestic abuse or tech-abuse to attend, and will gain introductory knowledge through this course.

What will I learn?

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Understand what 'tech abuse' and 'AI-enabled abuse' mean, and how they fit into wider patterns of domestic and gender-based violence.
• Recognize the ways technology can be weaponized against Black femmes - from tracking and surveillance to online harassment, deepfakes, and algorithmic bias.
• Explore how digital systems reinforce, expand on, shape and (re)build abuse for Black survivors.
• Identify warning signs, risk factors, and digital safety strategies for survivors and advocates.
• Reflect on the intersections of race, gender, and technology in shaping power and vulnerability online.
• Bystander Intervention in the digital world.