In recent months, Elephant Talk has brought together a network of European organizations to explore how human-centered data collection and representation can serve as powerful tools for social transformation and awareness-raising. Through a participatory approach, the project challenges traditional research methods by emphasizing inclusivity, intersectionality, and lived experiences.
Are you between 15 and 30 years old? Take the Elephant Talk Survey
As part of this initiative, project partners underwent hands-on training to develop meaningful data collection and visualization tools tailored for advocacy, education, and awareness campaigns. This training laid the groundwork for a comprehensive survey and a structured plan to implement focus groups with young people across Italy, Croatia, Romania, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, and Spain. By combining large-scale survey dissemination with qualitative discussions, our aim is to shed light on the systemic issue of online gender-based hate and body shaming—a phenomenon deeply affecting the younger generation, who spend a significant part of their lives online.
Why This Research Matters
Understanding the scope, patterns, and impact of digital gender-based violence is crucial for developing concrete solutions. The data we gather will serve as a foundation for research, education, advocacy, and policy-making—offering a realistic and evidence-based overview of the problem. However, for data to truly reflect reality, the collection process must be participatory, open, and accessible, ensuring that those who have directly experienced online abuse are at the center of the research.
Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, authors of Data Feminism, emphasize that data is never neutral—it reflects the perspectives and biases of those who collect, analyze, and interpret it. Following this principle, Elephant Talk adopts an intersectional lens, recognizing that online hate disproportionately affects women, marginalized communities, and individuals facing multiple layers of discrimination.
A Participatory Research Process
To break down traditional barriers between research and real-life experiences, the participatory approach has been embedded in every stage of data collection and visualization. Activists, data experts, and—most importantly—teenagers and young people are actively shaping the research, ensuring it captures the complexities of online abuse in ways that resonate with those affected. This co-creation process fosters collective knowledge, making our findings more reflective of lived realities rather than abstract and inaccessible.
Our approach goes beyond merely collecting numbers; it seeks to capture qualitative insights—stories, emotions, and strategies of resistance. Open-ended questions in the survey allow respondents to share their experiences in their own words, helping us understand not only how online hate manifests but also how individuals and communities respond to it.
From Research to Action
This research will not end with data collection. Our next step is to ensure transparent and accessible dissemination of findings, equipping researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations, educators, and youth workers with concrete tools to address the issue. The collected insights has the potential to inform awareness campaigns, intervention protocols, and strategies to counter gender-based hate and body shaming online.
By making the data freely available to our communities, we hope to spark collective action that fosters safer, more inclusive digital spaces. The Elephant Talk project is not just about understanding the problem—it’s about empowering individuals and institutions to drive change.
Stay tuned for updates on our findings and the next steps in this important conversation. Together, we can reshape the digital landscape to be a place of respect, dignity, and equality for all.
Are you between 15 and 30 years old? Take the Elephant Talk Survey to share your experiences. It only takes six minutes, and all responses are completely anonymous.
The research methodology is available here.
