On Making Data Actionable: How Activists Use Imperfect Data to Foster Social Change for Human Rights Violations in Mexico

In this paper, we examine how activist organizations, focused on human rights violations (HRVs) in Mexico, obtain and translate data to produce actionable insight for social change. Through interviews with 15 participants working in think tanks, human rights centers, non-governmental organizations, and nonprofit organizations, we identified two key data challenges that impact their work: absent and conflicting data. We then describe how these nonprofits try to understand these issues by building alliances to address specific, detrimental knowledge and data gaps. Next, we articulate how these activists use data to work towards social change by informing citizens, requesting action, and building capacity. Lastly, we propose recommendations on how to design for HRVs-focused data practices, focusing on issues related to addressing technology and infrastructure constraints, designing for safety, and supporting community data collection and dissemination.