Gender based violence
Globally, 38 per cent of women have directly experienced abuse online, rising to 45 per cent for Gen Zs and Millennials.
Web Foundation. (2021). www.webfoundation.org
Social networking sites can be avenues for obsessive and intrusive behaviours, noting that some forms of monitoring and surveillance – such as constantly monitoring someone’s Facebook profile for updates – can be conducted in relative anonymity, with most users unaware that this behaviour is occurring.
Chaulk, K. & Jones, T. (2011). Journal of Family Violence.
Online abuse is often far worse for marginalised groups such as the LGBTIQ+ community and women of colour.
Amnesty International. Amnesty’s Decoders Troll Patrol Project.
A study found that 7.1 per cent of tweets sent to women in the study were abusive. By using machine learning, they surveyed millions of tweets received by 778 journalists and politicians from the UK and US through 2017. 7.1 per cent amounts to 1.1 million tweets mentioning 778 women across the year, one every 30 seconds.
Amnesty International. Amnesty’s Decoders Troll Patrol Project.
A survey of 365 college students in the US found that common digital dating behaviours among participants included the use of social media to monitor a dating partner’s whereabouts or checking a dating partner’s friends and contacts.
Reed, L.A., Tolman, R.M. & Ward, L.M. (2016). Violence Against Women.