Innovation in Women Programming—Understand the Potential of Using Twitter Data Combined with Traditional Survey Data to Measure Societal Dynamics Related To Violence Against Women (VAW) In Brazil

This Capstone project, working in consultancy with UN Women, explored how social media data—especially Twitter data—can complement traditional data collection methods when tracking and addressing the problem of violence against women (VAW) in Brazil. This report provided insights and recommendations regarding how this data can best be harnessed by civil society organizations (CSOs), government agencies, and other stakeholders to influence policy and work more effectively towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5.2—to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls.

The first section of this report provided essential context by presenting an overview of the scope of the problem of VAW in Brazil. This landscape analysis detailed key interventions of CSOs and government agencies that have worked to address this problem in between 2006 and 2017. The analysis further revealed significant gaps in data on VAW in Brazil which have negatively impacted the work of these organizations. The second section of the report examined the limitations of traditional survey methods to collect data on VAW in Brazil and considered the potential of using Twitter data to fill those gaps. It also identified challenges and opportunities for utilizing Twitter data to inform policy on VAW in Brazil and provided suggestions for effective data presentation to stakeholders/policymakers. Both sections offered respective recommendations for effective implementation.