Digital Storytelling and Self Healing of Women Survivors of Violence: Evidence from Pakistan

With the revolution of information and communication technology (ICT), various digital means have been explored to interact and share life experiences with others. Among them, digital storytelling is a pioneering technique that allows ordinary people to share their stories from unique, personal perspectives. Digital storytelling is being effectively utilized in education, health, and for political awareness as well. Women survivors of violence are also being effectively exploiting this innovative technology worldwide in sharing their voices with others to suppress gender based violence. Studies have been conducted to investigate the potency of digital storytelling in various fields. The current study explores the use of digital storytelling as a means to induce self-healing for the women survivors of violence, specifically victims of domestic violence and sexual harassment incidents. A one month long workshop with women survivors of violence was conducted to analyze this behavioral transformation. Pre and post assessment was done to observe the state of self healing. By analyzing data through Wilcoxon Signed rank test, a significant difference has been noted in the women survivor’s state of self healing as analyzed through changed self-expression, mental health and self-confidence. However, this study has been conducted with small sample and further investigation is required to validate this aspect of digital storytelling with larger sample.