In their project #LetGirlsMap, HOT is training young women and vocal male allies in Tanzania and Peru to use mobile-based mapping platforms and crowdsourcing to surface issues that are preventing women from reaching their full potential.

HOT, with partners YouthMappers and the Tanzania Development Trust, aims to use data mapping to reduce gender-based violence and empower women economically in Tanzania. They have trained women in 78 villages and set up a network for local digital champions and female leaders to learn technological skills including how to map local data and report instances of gender-based violence within their communities. In a country where women face significant barriers to accessing technology, HOT is investing in capacity building of local women so that they can advocate for change within their own community. Learn more about the impact mapping is having in one Tanzanian community in the WCC-produced video and blog titled “A Refuge for Rosie.”

In Peru, HOT partners with YouthMappers and schools to train students to use new mapping and surveying tools. Students go out into their communities to survey people’s mindsets and attitudes on topics like gender-based violence, opinions on the culture of machismo, and women’s participation in labor markets. This learning approach empowers students to question gender norms and inequality through technology and digital maps. One 15-year old student shared:

“The project is helping us to all have rights. It’s helped me to be able to put myself in the shoes of others to build a better world. I hope my mapping project helps develop gender equality, but also economic equality as well.” Through #LetGirlsMap, female mappers feel empowered and supported in areas where leaders are not typically female, setting an example for the whole community.