Identities of perpetrators
41%
Someone known
30%
Someone unknown
14%
A group of people
3%
Internet platform provider (e.g. Facebook)
2%
State
Someone known
Someone unknown
A group of people
Internet platform provider (e.g. Facebook)
State
Identity of person | What is at stake | What happens | Consequences |
Someone involved in intimate relationship | Intimacy and trust | Involves use of ICTs for private expression, the content of which is then exploited publicly by someone who was intimately involved with that person. | Can result in extreme consequences (e.g. suicide), and widespread sense of public shame. May require severe action such as changing name and address. |
Professional, often involved in public expression. (activists, journalists, writers, etc). | Freedom of expression, personal and political | Harassment, threats, silencing through verbal abuse. | Typically appears to result in less extreme consequences for the victims given their public status, a greater sense of empowerment to remedy situation. |
Survivor/victim of physical assault | Physical safety | Involves direct crime, such as filming a gang rape. | Can result in extreme consequences, such as suicide of the person violated. |
Only 56% of those experiencing harm are likely to take action, suggesting the need for awareness raising and empowerment on the alternatives for effective action when online harm occurs.
Leaving/changing platform
Reporting abuse to provider/platform
Blocking aggressor on platform or technology
Dialogue or confrontation of aggressor
Reported to police/state enforcement authority
This study provides an analysis of data concerning technology-related violence against women (VAW) collected using the Association for Progressive Communications' (APC) online mapping tool. The purpose of the mapping tool is to make invisible visible and to document cases of VAW that takes place online, or through the use of ICTs like mobile phones and the internet. The map is a collaborative effort of individuals, service organisations and advocates in different parts of the world.
The aim of the analytical study was to develop a deeper understanding of the nature and consequences of technology-related VAW. It provides primarily quantitative overview of the cases reported, with some qualitative illustration. A total of 1126 cases were reported over the period studied - from 2012 to mid-2014.