{"id":47901,"date":"2023-10-20T15:56:31","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/the-role-of-startups-and-tech-developers-in-ending-violence-against-women-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:56:31","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:56:31","slug":"the-role-of-startups-and-tech-developers-in-ending-violence-against-women-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/the-role-of-startups-and-tech-developers-in-ending-violence-against-women-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"The role of startups and tech developers in ending violence against women – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Federal MP Tim Watts spoke in parliament [earlier this year] about the ways in which new technologies are being used to stalk, intimidate, threaten and harass women.<\/p>\n

This abuse, he suggests, often happens in domestic violence situations.<\/p>\n

It is also happening in new ways, such as via \u201crevenge pornography\u201d, to which our current laws are unable to respond effectively.<\/p>\n

This comes in light of a growing recognition of the ways communications technologies are used to perpetrate violence against women.<\/p>\n

But is it the case that the harms of new technologies might outweigh any good?<\/p>\n

Growing problem<\/h3>\n

My colleagues and I have written previously on the harms of \u201crevenge pornography\u201d, when intimate images are shared without consent.<\/p>\n

Beyond the regrettable actions of a jilted lover seeking what they perceive as revenge, we identify the ways these images are used to humiliate, harass and threaten victims.<\/p>\n

In some instances, private sexual images are used as a tool to control women in already violent relationships, or as a kind of blackmail to coerce them in sexually abusive situations.<\/p>\n

In a separate study, we surveyed 3,000 Australian adults aged 18 to 54, and found that threats, sexual harassment and the non-consensual sharing of nude or semi-nude images were extremely common.<\/p>\n

Our analysis of Australian state and territory legislation further suggests that the criminal law has yet to catch up with these emerging forms of abuse.<\/p>\n

Research is also uncovering the role of social media in domestic violence and cyberstalking.<\/p>\n

Social media, mobile phone applications and digital communications are all being used to monitor, track and harass victims of partner violence.<\/p>\n

This is an issue affecting one in six Australian women and one in 19 men through their lifetime.<\/p>\n

In a national survey of domestic and family violence workers, 98% of the 546 participants reported that their clients had experienced technology-facilitated stalking and abuse.<\/p>\n

Equally disturbing are rapidly emerging forms of misogynistic cyberhate.<\/p>\n

Women, it seems, are subjected to threatening, aggressive and violent speech for no other reason that being \u201cwomen on the internet\u201d.<\/p>\n

More than a \u2018tech\u2019 problem<\/h3>\n

There is a role for technology companies and developers in combating technology-facilitated abuse of women.<\/p>\n

Google and other tech companies announced last year, for instance, that they would allow users to report revenge porn victimisation, so that the images could be blocked from internet searches.<\/p>\n

\n
Technology companies, such as Microsoft, are taking steps to combat things like revenge porn. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Less helpful is advice to women to stay offline, adopt male online personas and not take sexy pics in the first place.<\/p>\n

Like anti-rape underwear, nail polish and panic rooms, such advice only reinforces victim-blaming and fails to tackle the social causes of the problem.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say individuals aren\u2019t able to, or shouldn\u2019t be able to, choose to take actions that might make them safer.<\/p>\n

Rather, we need to recognise the unjust impact on women as a social group, if they are expected to bear the responsibility for other people\u2019s abusive behaviour.<\/p>\n

Because ultimately, it is not technology that is harming to women, it is people using<\/em> technology to harm women.<\/p>\n

And like the sexual violence, street harassment and partner abuse that is directed at women face-to-face, it appears as though much (though not all) of the sexual violence, threats, harassment, stalking and abuse women experience via technology is at the hands of male perpetrators.<\/p>\n

In other words, technology is not doing more harm than good; those people who choose to harass, threaten, stalk and abuse are doing the harm.<\/p>\n

Communications technology may just be providing us with a clearer window into the attitudes and behaviours that underlie violence against women and gender inequality in our society more broadly.<\/p>\n

The good news<\/h3>\n

The good news is that if technology is a tool, then it can be used by people for good.<\/p>\n

And there are some great examples of people driving innovation in technology as well as advocating for social change to stop the abuse of women both online and face-to-face.<\/p>\n

Free smartphone applications and websites such as iDecide, Daisy and SARA, provide information, support and anonymous reporting options for Australian victims of abuse.<\/p>\n

Survivors of violence are also sharing their experiences online in emerging, safe and supportive spaces, such as Not the only one.<\/p>\n

Many male advocates for change have spoken out and taken action to challenge gender inequality and abuse of women.<\/p>\n

Anti-violence activism has taken on new forms, connecting women from across the globe to \u201ctake back the tech\u201d and bringing feminism into the digital age.<\/p>\n

The variety of communications media and tools available now are helping spread the message far and wide that violence is never acceptable.<\/p>\n

Our challenge, then, is to take all these amazing tools and opportunities and convert them into real policy action to move ever closer to a future free of violence and abuse.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.<\/em><\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation. <\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, LinkedIn and iTunes. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal MP Tim Watts spoke in parliament [earlier this year] about the ways in which new technologies are being used<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}