‘Can I just share my story?’ Experiences of technology-facilitated abuse among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women from regional and remote areas

‘Can I just share my story?’ Experiences of technology-facilitated abuse among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women from regional and remote areas Report

• Author(s): Brown, Chay, Yap, Mandy, Thomassin, Annick, Murray, Minda, Yu, Eunice
• Published: 2021
• Publisher: prepared by Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University for eSafety

Link to resource Report broken link

Abstract: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are disproportionately affected by violence in all its forms, and are overrepresented as domestic, family, and sexual violence victims (The Northern Territory Government, 2018). They are 35 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of violence than non-Indigenous women and they report three times as many incidents of sexual violence compared to non-Indigenous women (Olsen & Lovett, 2016, p. 13). Indigenous women are also far more likely to be killed due to assault than non-Indigenous women (Our Watch, 2016). They are also hospitalised due to family violence at three times the rate of Indigenous males (Our Watch, 2018). With the increasing use of electronic and communication technology and internet connectivity in regional and remote areas, technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) is believed to be becoming more widespread yet the extent of it in regional and remote areas remains relatively unexplored. TFA refers to abusive behaviour using phones and other devices, as well as social media and online accounts. There are four main types of technology-facilitated abusive behaviours: harassment, stalking, impersonation, and threats (Office of the eSafety Commissioner, 2019). TFA covers the sharing of sexual images without consent; the use of GPS technology to monitor a person’s location and movement; the creation of fake social media accounts (such as on Facebook or Instagram) to impersonate and humiliate a person; and threatening or abusive messages. This research report looks into the experiences of TFA among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in remote and regional locations, with a particular focus on different types of experiences, cultural sensitivities which surround this abuse, and how women can best be supported. The findings of this research aim to inform programmatic and policy responses to address and prevent TFA in ways that are culturally safe and appropriate.

• Urls: https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2021-08/apo-nid313414.pdf
• Publisher Location: Canberra