Social media, online safety, and technology abuse

In a run of pre-budget and pre-election announcements, the federal government has announced a raft of initiatives aimed at addressing gendered violence. This includes money for electronic monitoring of offenders; security measures for homes; and increased funding for the eSafety Commissioner to deal directly with victim-survivors of technology abuse.

Just days earlier, a House of Representatives committee released its report on social media and online safety, making 26 recommendations including that the federal government significantly increase funding to support victims of technology-facilitated abuse, including  additional funding for specialised counselling and support services for victims. They noted that this should be incorporated in the next National Action Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032.

While increased funding to the eSafety Commission is most welcome there is a clear and compelling need - as noted in the inquiry - for funding specialised women's domestic and family violence and sexual violence services to provide direct support to victim-survivors of technology abuse. 

In presenting evidence to the inquiry, AWAVA’s Karen Bentley, WESNET CEO, highlighted that technology abuse in the context of domestic and family violence is experienced very differently to a person being hacked or trying to protect their online presence. Technology abuses by DFV perpetrators are very targeted, and undertaken with intimate knowledge of the victim to directly attack and undermine.  

For this reason, it is vitally important that those providing support to victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence have a comprehensive understanding about the impact and dynamics of these forms of violence.  AWAVA will continue to advocate on this basis.

We’ll be back on the 26 April 2022!

We will be taking a short break over the next weeks but will be back with a bumper edition on 26 April 2022.

Around the Country

• The federal government announced a $104 million technology-focused package to prevent domestic and family violence, including: a $20 million fund for states and territories to trial electronic monitoring of high-risk offenders; $54.6 million to support victim-survivors to stay in their own homes with security assessments and upgrades; and $26.6 million for online safety initiatives including for the eSafety Commission to provide direct support to victim-survivors of technology-facilitated abuse.

• The federal government also said it was committing an additional $46 million to roll out two further phases of the Stop it at the Start campaign to drive change in people’s attitudes towards violence and raise awareness of new and emerging issues such as tech-facilitated abuse.

• The Labor opposition has made a pre-election commitment to; rollout consent, respectful relationships and protective behaviours programs with $77.6 million in grants; review how consent and respectful relationships education is currently being delivered in schools; and set up a National Respectful Relationships Education Expert Group.

• Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has spoken about the mental health toll of her time in the national spotlight, warning the media has a lot to answer for “where it directs its shame”.

• Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has called it “extraordinarily disrespectful” to use the appellation “mean girls” to describe “strong, articulate, principled women” like Penny Wong, Katy Gallagher and Kristina Keneally.

• Australian men hold some of the most misogynistic views in the Western world, with the cohort ranking well above the global average in a country-by-country analysis on gender bias and online abuse by research firm Ipsos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL).

• Australia has signed up as a founding member of the Global Partnership to End Online Harassment and Abuse, a joint initiative led by the US White House Gender Policy Council, and as part of Denmark’s Tech for Democracy Initiative and the US Summit for Democracy.

• The two-week inquest into the death of Hannah Clarke and her children is set to start this week, but in a preliminary hearing last year lawyers shed some light on the escalating behaviour of Rowan Baxter in the years, weeks and months leading up to the murders.

• An ACER evaluation has found Griffith University’s MATE Bystander Program to be highly effective at equipping people with the tools and understanding to step in and address problematic behaviour, prevent violence against women, racism and discrimination, and promote equality.

• Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA) has launched a Leadership Statement, outlining their vision for what leadership needs to look like to be inclusive of women and girls with disabilities and why it is so important. The launch was held by webinar for International Women’s Day and can be viewed here.

• The Victorian Women’s Trust has launched its federal election initiative “matters that count”. The initiative centres on how to make your voice heard by candidates, and anyone interested is encouraged to become involved as soon as possible.

Around the World

• The Global Network of Women’s Shelters (GNWS) is launching Lila.help, a directory about direct services for women and girls fleeing from violence, listing accurate, vetted, and safe helplines and shelters for every country and territory in the world. GNWS wants every organisation that provides trustworthy direct services to people experiencing gender-based violence included in their directory. Organisations can fill in their information via this link. 

• Top UN officials gathered with government and civil society representatives to draw attention to the scourge of violence against women worldwide who are involved in politics, which is increasingly seeing women parliamentarians, human rights defenders and electoral observers silenced, and intimidated.

• United States President Biden thanked victim-survivors and advocates in his remarks on the reauthorisation of the Violence Against Women Act.

• Tribal leaders, advocates, and communities are applauding the reauthorisation of the US Violence Against Women Act, which includes the extension of tribal jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence, sex trafficking, stalking, child violence, and obstruction of justice.

• The reauthorised Violence Against Women Act is also being praised for including for the first time a grant program designed to aid LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

• Time magazine writes How the NRA Weakened the Violence Against Women Act Update.

• The European Commission is proposing EU-wide rules to combat violence against women and domestic violence. The proposed Directive will criminalise rape based on lack of consent, female genital mutilation, and cyber violence.

• In Turkey, women’s rights activists have described a government proposal to combat gender-based violence as ‘inadequate’.

• The Cyprus government has introduced a bill that, if passed, will establish femicide as a distinct crime, and introduce a range of aggravating factors (including that the death occurred as a result of violence by a sexual partner, torture or misogynistic violence, domestic violence, or honour-based violence) in trials for gender-related killings of women.

• In Scotland, domestic abusers would face being added to a register of offenders similar to that used for those convicted of sexual offences under new plans from the Scottish Conservatives.

• Across the UK, a series of freedom of information requests by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism showed that 1,080 out of 1,319 police officers and staff who were reported for alleged domestic abuse during a three-year period were still working. Replies were received from 41 forces across the UK.

• Also in the UK, campaigners have warned that the Online Safety Bill constitutes a “huge missed opportunity” to protect women and girls, arguing that the legislation must explicitly reference violence against women and girls given the high levels of abuse they face on social media.

• The Human Rights Commissioner, Council of Europe has released a policy statement No space for violence against women and girls in the digital world.

• The number of divorces in Singapore increased by 2 per cent from 2020 to 2021, while the number of maintenance and family violence cases dropped in the same period.

• Kenyan Lady Justice Martha Koome launched a Sexual and Gender-based Violence court in Mombasa. The court will be similar to those in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in its management and prosecution of SGBV cases.

• In Trinidad and Tobago, data from the police service and the National Domestic Violence Hotline said approximately 20 per cent of the domestic violence reports made in 2020 came from men.

• In a ground-breaking decision, an Ontario court recently ordered a husband to pay his former wife damages of $150,000 on account of the physical and psychological abuse she endured over their 17-year marriage. In making the award, the court gave life to a new tort, or civil wrong, of “family violence” that addresses the cumulative impact of an abusive marriage.

• Deadly attacks on women have risen sharply in Iraqi Kurdistan, with 11 women killed in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, most of them shot, in the first two months of 2022.

• A Brazillian study has shown that there was a high number of cases of violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic. From March of 2020 to December of 2021, 2,451 women were killed and 100,398 cases of rape – with female victims, including minors – were reported.

• In Indonesia hopes are rising for a long-awaited sexual violence bill.
  

Research and Publications

• AWAVA, WESNET, NATSIWA and WWDA have launched the ‘Report on Young Women and Non-Binary People’s Experiences of Gender-Based Violence across Australia‘. The report is available now on AWAVA’s website here.

• A research project by the University of the West of Scotland into the impact of the Coronavirus lockdown on those living with domestic abuse has found that pets were often used as a tool for coercive control and abuse during the pandemic.

• Reproductive coercion has impacted 50% of women age 18-44, suggests a new poll of 1,000 women undertaken for BBC News.

• ANROWS has released a report on its RECOVER study, testing the feasibility of providing a child–parent psychotherapy (CPP) therapeutic model of care in Australia to mothers and their pre-school-aged children who are affected by intimate partner violence.

• The eSafety Commission has released Women In The Spotlight: How online abuse impacts women in their working lives.

• A BMC Public Health Journal article examines the Effect of the Lights4Violence intervention on the sexism of adolescents in European countries.

• A BMC Women’s Health Journal article looks at The characteristics of husbands and violence against women in Wuhan, China: a cross-sectional study.

• The 2022 SDG Gender Index, developed by Equal Measures 2030, provides an overview of where the world stands on gender equity with respect to the UN SDGs, which aim to achieve a decent quality of life for all and a healthy environment by 2030. It found that a third of countries analysed have made no progress since 2015, or have moved in the wrong direction.

• UN Women have published analysis Tackling violence against women and girls in the context of climate change.

Resources and guidelines

• Preventing Violence against Women: A Primer for African Women’s Organizations, developed with the African Women’s Development Fund, explores a feminist approach to preventing violence against women in Africa, outlines current evidence and unpacks key controversies in VAW prevention programming.

• The International Student Principles were developed by the Human Rights Commission to address the human rights concerns of international students living in Australia. They have recently been updated in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students including the experiences of racial discrimination and race hate.

• To draw attention to all the forms of domestic violence that go unnoticed Swayam, a Kolkata-based organisation that is committed to advancing women's rights and ending inequality and violence against women and girls, has released a set of three short films in Hindi and in English.

Media

• The webinar launching the AWAVA, WESNET, NATSIWA and WWDA Report on Young Women and Non-Binary People’s Experiences of Gender-Based Violence across Australia can be watched here.

• AWAVA’s own Karen Bentley, CEO of Women’s Services Network (WESNET), features in episode 3 of There’s No Place Like Home - FF new podcast that puts survivors of family violence at the centre of the story. Learn more by heading to the podcast website.

• Saturday Paper's 7AM podcast discusses the shortcomings of the draft National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children and what it means for women over the next decade.

• A Four Corners investigation reveals the stories of Australians who say they’ve been virtually abducted by the state, stripped of their assets and stopped from speaking out, until now, under the control of Public Guardian and Trustee agencies around the country.

• The Conversation notes that ‘Change the Course’ set out to end sexual violence and harassment on campus but that 5 years on, Unis still have work to do.

• The Conversation also writes Stopping violence against women starts with learning what misogyny really is.

• The Guardian writes Male violence against women is about so much more than toxic masculinity.

• In an episode of Policy Forum Pod, Patty Kinnersly, from Our Watch, and Jen Hargrave, from Women with Disabilities Victoria, join the Asia and the Pacific Policy Society to discuss the Changing the landscape report, a new national resource to prevent violence against women and girls with disabilities.

• The Guardian reports that ‘Incels’ are a rising threat in the US according to a Secret Service report.

• Elle Canada writes about Inside the Fight for Survivors Facing Gender-Based and Intimate Partner Violence.

• Aljazeera has a feature article on Shonagh Dillon, the feminist campaigner who has become a voice for women who have been silenced by male violence.

Surveys

• ANROWS wants to know what people think about what it does well, and where it could improve, and has launched a stakeholder survey, closing on 4 April 2022.

Calls for Submissions and EOIs

• The Future-proofing Safety consortia (CFRE, CIJ and AIFS) have recently launched the project’s first interactive report (see above under ‘reports and research’). If your organisation would like to participate in sector focus groups to share your experiences supporting clients experiencing and/or using violence during COVID-19, please contact [email protected] for further information.
  

• The Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre is offering 24 Graduate Certificate of Family Violence Prevention scholarships to family violence victim-survivors. Applications close on 22 March 2022.

• The ACT Government has issued an Advance Tender notice seeking a qualified and experienced Contractor to co-design and deliver a pilot program for children aged 5 to 12 years who have experienced family violence, closing on 31 March 2022.

• The South Australian Attorney-General's Department has released a discussion paper exploring the measures needed to support the implementation of a criminal offence of coercive control, should it be introduced in South Australia. Feedback is sought by 1 April 2022.

• The Melbourne Social Equity Institute, in partnership with Volunteer West, is offering a new scholarship to research the gendered dynamics in community volunteering and volunteering engagement practice. Expressions of Interest are open until Wednesday 27 April 2022.

• The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is inviting manuscripts for a special issue ‘Engaging Men and Boys in the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls’. Deadline for submission is 31 July 2022.

Events

• Swinburne University is hosting the webinar Someone else’s issue? Technology and human rights of people with a disability on 7 April 2022.

• The National Congress of Women is an initiative of the Women’s Climate Congress to lead a women’s movement on climate change. The National Congress is holding an online day on 28 April 2022 to explore new opportunities for working together for action on climate change at local and national levels.

• DVNSW is hosting their 2022 Conference live and in-person in Sydney on the 12th and 13th of May 2022 at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre. The theme of the conference is Reconnect, Re-energise, Redesign.

• No to Violence Conference 2022: Shifting the Burden is on at the Adelaide Convention Centre from 1 to 4 August 2022.

Training and Education

• Project Respect is delivering 'Supporting Women in the Sex Industry' Capacity Building Training courses and has an e-Learning course starting on the 24th of March and an Introductory Workshop on the 19th of May. Project Respect’s Training & Courses webpage has more information and their Supporter Update mailing list has training updates.

• ACON has recently launched three online training modules: The Trans Vitality: Trans Affirming Practice eLearning; Trans and Gender Diverse Sexual Health ELearning, in collaboration with ASHM; and Recognise and Respond, in collaboration with the Black Dog Institute.

• The RACGP Family Violence GP Education Program assists GPs in developing skills and knowledge to respond to domestic and family violence. The program is open to all Victorian GPs and practice staff and offers two training pathway options – beginner and intermediate/advanced.
• WESNET is offering Technology Safety Online Training for SADFV professionals, for dates and training descriptions please visit https://techsafety.org.au/training
• The Council of Europe has launched a new, free online course on Violence Against Women for Law Enforcement Professionals.

• RMIT’s Graduate Certificate in Domestic and Family Violence provides an exciting opportunity for current and future family violence practitioners, with subjects in gendered violence, responding to family violence, primary prevention of violence against women and specialist case coordination and management. The program is offered online and part-time to support work/life/study balance. Applications can be made online here, or for more information, visit the Program Overview.

• Harmony Alliance has developed a free online course on 'Financial Literacy for Women' available in English, Arabic, Dari, Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Punjabi, Hazaragi, Thai, Karen, and Korean.

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*Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of AWAVA or WESNET and are included as items of interest only.

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