Grants:TPS/Rohini/AdaCamp Montreal

This Wikimedia Participation Support request was funded in the fiscal year 2014-15. A report is available.

statusfunded

Travel & Participation Support

AdaCamp Montreal

summaryI intend to lead a session on the intersection of gender, sexuality, and the Internet, based on my work on the EroTICs India project, especially in the context of Wikimedia communities.

event locationMontreal, Canada

event websitehttps://montreal.adacamp.org/

event date(s)April 13-14, 2015

amount requestedUSD 2460

home countryIndia

creator• Rohini

submitted on11:26, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

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Proposed participation

To offer a summary of my contribution to the Wikimedia projects, I have been contributing to the Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia in English and in my native language Marathi, As the Chairperson of the Gender gap Special Interest Group at Wikimedia India Chapter from March 2013 to June 2014, I targeted five major cities in the Gender gap work plan and policy document (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gender_gap_India_work_plan). These initiatives were aimed at channelising volunteer efforts in three cities through various programmes to recruit and retain women editors. I also organised, supported and conducted edit-a-thons, community outreach events, Women’s History Month events online and offline to recruit and retain female and transgendered contributors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Rohini/Outreach). By the end of most of these events, we had successfully managed to create and expand articles from a gendered perspective. Off Wikipedia, I have been having conversations with women’s rights groups and human rights organisations such as Breakthrough (“Group leaders” tab http://www.breakthrough.tv/hack4change) to help spread awareness of the existence of an abysmal gender gap on Wikipedia in India. Through initiatives such as the WikiWomen’s Collaborative India Facebook page, I intend to bring these conversations into the mainstream.

I believe that my session at this event would enable the participants to become more aware of some of the more insidious stumbling blocks to contributing (and retaining female contributors to) Wikimedia projects, and that my experience of working with the Gendergap movement and the former editor of EroTICsIndia.org (a project on the intersection of gender, sexuality and ICTs) would shed new light on the complexities of recruiting and retaining female contributors to Wikimedia projects.

Goal and expected impact

I wish to speak about patterns of violence, aggression, or harassment that subvert and thwart the voice of women, transwomen, and LGBTIQ individuals on the Internet, especially in the context of communities that value anonymity such as those in the FOSS and Wikimedia movements. As a result, I hope the audience will be able to recognise and combat the practices that undermine their presence and participation in the process of knowledge production. I also wish to reserve some time during the talk to discuss with the audience ways in which they can respond to these patterns of violence or aggression.

Budget breakdown

• Travel (round trip airfare from Bengaluru to Montreal): USD 1840
• Airport transfer: USD 100
• Accomodation: USD 70 *4 nights = USD 280
• Visa fees: USD 160
• Food, local transport and incidental expenses: USD 20 * 4 = USD 80

Other instructions

Yes, I need advance disbursement of funds. However, air ticket fare and accommodation may be booked by the Wikimedia Foundation directly instead of transferring the grant to my account.

Endorsements

1. I fully support this grant application. Rohini has in the past been a part of the greater gendergap movement in India. She chaired the Special Interest Group for GenderGap on the Wikimedia India Chapter for over a year as well. She has been a part of several Gendergap related events, including edit-a-thons, workshops, et al and I think she truly well deserves this. ----Rsrikanth05 (talk) 13:35, 9 March 2015 (UTC)
2. Rohini has been one of the leading speakers on women empowerment and gender violence from the Internet World of India.She has served as the Gendergap Chair of the WMIN chapter and is a member of the jury of "The Bobs" portal of the Deutsche Welle (DW)., I think she speaking at the Adacamp would be a great addition to the program. Strike Eagle (talk) 13:52, 9 March 2015 (UTC)
3. Adding to both the comments above, Rohini has also lead GLAM Projects and has been the first WiR in India, thus has proved herself as a good all rounder. Her presence will truly help the movement. -- ♪Karthik♫ ♪Nadar♫ 01:49, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
4. Rohini is a well recognized long time contributor and leader in the Wikimedia India Community. It is important that we invest in grooming people like her further and provide exposure in an international arena. One can note how another Wikimedia contributor Netha considers AdaCamp participation as a life changing experience. With the recent controversy surrounding India's Daughter, it is also important that women related issues in India be presented in the right context to a global audience. I have no doubt that people like Rohini will contribute back to the movement through their learnings from such an event. Therefore, I highly recommend that her request for travel and participation to AdaCamp Montreal be supported. --Ravi (talk) 05:43, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
5. I endorse Rohini's application for travel and participation support. Rohini has contributed in several ways to the Wikimedia movement -- as the Chairperson of the Gendergap SIG at Wikimedia India, as a Wikipedian-in-Residence and as an active member of the community. Wikimedia and Adacamp communities would greatly benefit from her participation in Adacamp Montreal.Mokshjuneja (talk) 10:46, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
6. I have known Rohini since 2011 as a dedicated Wikimedia volunteer. She was the chair of the Special Interest Group for Gendergap at the Wikimedia India Chapter for over an year. I am sure that she will bring back a lot of learning to India, thereby strengthening the initiatives to increase the participation of women in Wikimedia in India. Additionally, I have had fruitful conversations with her while at Ada Camp in Bangalore in November 2014. I am endorsing her application. --Netha Hussain (talk) 10:51, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
7. Rohini's work and writing speak for themselves! I strongly support this grant application, especially as Rohini provides a non-Western voice to these conversations, which is essential. --Mssemantics (talk) 18:51, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
8. Individual has been active in offline Wikipedia activities for the last few years. --AroundTheGlobe (talk) 04:57, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
9. I fully support this grant application. -- Tinu Cherian - 08:51, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
10. Support. I'm concerned that $20 per day for food, travel and incidentals is too low, for Montreal. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 18:31, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
11. Very interesting. Support. Makes me want to go to Montreal to attend this presentation and conference... Raystorm (talk) 21:03, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
12. I fully support Rohini's grant application. She has consistently been one of the contributors of Wikipedia in India and is one of the leading voices of the gender gap movement. I work with a women's rights organization and I have worked with her in organizing editathons in the past. She totally deserves it. Shobhasv11 (talk) 01:06, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
13. Support. I concur with Netha, AroundTheGlobe et al. --kondi ^{talk/contribs} 07:21, 16 March 2015 (UTC)