Online gendered violence – what is it?
Summary
In April, the Digital Safety team continue the momentum of discussing gendered harms from March. We have expanded and developed this conversation to also talk about how gendered harms affect men and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Trigger warning: this article contains a frank discussion to raise awareness of the effects of this issue on women, men and the LGBTQ+ community, so read at your own discretion.
During the month of April, the Digital Safety Intern will be discussing gendered harms on the internet. After women’s history month and international women’s day last month, we have decided to continue the momentum and expand the conversation on pressing issues of gendered violence, focusing on the online element of this crime.
Gender-based violence is an issue that primarily affects women, but it also affects other groups as well – as negative impacts resulting from gendered identities affect all. This article will discuss the impact and forms of violence on three selected groups (women, LGBTQ+ community, men) in an effort to raise awareness of this increasing and harmful phenomena.
Technology-assisted gender-based violence has grown rapidly in recent years with women being the main target, as reported by Womankind Worldwide.
There are many different forms and methods of gender-based violence as an online activity, but the most common ones are: misinformation and defamation (67%), cyber harassment (66%) and hate speech (65%) as experienced by women.
Gendered violence is a tool to silence women online, with women in professions such as journalism, human rights defence and activism being major targets. It has severe health impacts including depression, PTSD and anxiety being elevated in survivors of this crime.
Multipliers in recent years include the increase of anti-rights voices online, artificial intelligence and the reduction of monitoring efforts by social media companies: all of which serve to further this type of damaging online activity.
But it is not a crime which only affects women.
Men and boys are increasingly being targeted with hate content that focuses on 1) establishing male voices as the dominant power source and 2) defining what male power is in an exclusionary method.
For instance, toxic influencer culture serves to enforce ideologies such as promoting wealth and dominance over women as forms of success for men and boys. Tactics such as these reinforce existing power relationships between men and women, and actively encourage harmful behaviours. They also obscure individuality and diversity among men, which stifles self-actualisation – an important process particularly for young people. With more and more people turning to influencers as a source of knowledge, inspiration and values, it is vital that we learn to discern hateful content on the internet from more positive and helpful content.
Another group who are disproportionately affected by gender identity based hate on the internet are the LGBTQ+ community. While harassment is increasing on the internet, some groups such as the LGBTQ+ community face discrimination in much higher volumes. Although there is a lot of data on hate crime experienced offline, information on the forms and impact of online hate remains scarce for those in this community. A study conducted in 2021 stated online hate incidents can have several impacts such as social withdrawal, loss of trust, anxiety and feeling the need to hide – often compounding the hate that the LGBTQ+ community experience offline.
Nobody should ever be made to feel this way.
Throughout the month, we will be sharing posts on the UoE Digital Skills Instagram on different topics to provide practical tips for combating online gender identity based violence.
Follow us @uoedigiskills
Check out our Digital Safety, Wellbeing and Citizenship Hub where we have lots of resources to support you and help you report any incidents of online hatred. We have specific gender-based violence and protected characteristics support on the Hub.
Digital Safety, Wellbeing and Citizenship | Information Services
Further resources:
Full article: Hate Hurts: Exploring the Impact of Online Hate on LGBTQ+ Young People
New report provides vital insights into anti-LGBTQ+ hate… | Stonewall
LGBTQ+ facts and figures | Stonewall
The Rise of Toxic Influencers: How They’re Shaping Young Men – Collective Shout
How Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Impacts Women and Girls
‘Toxic’ influencers trick men into thinking women are against them – Southgate
