As the world shifted to heavily rely on the virtual sphere due to COVID-19, recent findings reveal the prevalence of online abuse, disproportionately affecting women and girls throughout the pandemic. Online abuse includes a range of behaviours and acts committed online, including verbal threats and harmful comments, harassment, and “doxing” (the revealing of an individual’s personal information online).

The disproportionate impact of online abuse against women has been termed “online violence against women” (OVAW). Jac sm Kee of the Association for Progressive Communications, a grantee partner of the Global Fund for Women, states that OVAW “is an overt expression of gender discrimination and inequality that exists offline”.

THE PREVALENCE OF OVAW

Amnesty International in 2017 revealed the alarming impact of online abuse, particularly prevalent on the popular social media platform Twitter. Women between the ages of 18 and 55 were surveyed across Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). The poll revealed that 69% of women in the UK who experienced abuse or harassment were subjected to generally abusive language or comments, 47% were subjected to sexist or misogynistic comments, and 27% received threats (direct or indirect) of physical or sexual violence. The figures are collated in Amnesty International’s 2018 “Toxic Twitter” report, further highlighting that women on Twitter who engaged in public discussion, such as journalists, members of parliament, activists, and feminists, were common targets of online abuse.

According to the research, 58% of participants across all countries who had experienced abuse or harassment said it had included racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia, thus highlighting the intersectional nature of online abuse. Lawyer and critical race scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw developed the theory of intersectionality by referring to the failure of the discrimination laws in the US to acknowledge the experiences of Black women subjected to both racism and sexism simultaneously.

THE COVID-19 EFFECT

During the first three months of lockdown in the UK, more than 40,000 calls and contacts were made to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline. A survey carried out by Women’s Aid, a grassroots federation working against domestic abuse in the UK, confirmed that COVID-19 had negatively impacted women experiencing domestic abuse. According to the survey, 67.4% of survivors who experienced abuse said that the abuse had gotten worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 76.1% said they had to spend more time with their abuser.

The physical effects of COVID-19 are evident, but what about the virtual effects?

Glitch, a non-profit organisation that works to eliminate online abuse, in collaboration with the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) in the summer of 2020 undertook the largest dataset into the gendered impact of COVID-19 online. Published in September 2020, the report entitled “The Ripple Effect: COVID-19 and the Epidemic of Online Abuse” highlights findings that almost one in two (46%) women and non-binary people reported experiencing online abuse since the beginning of COVID-19. Further, one in three (29%) of these people reported the abuse being worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. 84% of respondents experienced online abuse from strangers. Gender was the most cited reason for the online abuse, with 48% of respondents reporting suffering from gender-based online violence.

Such studies have been replicated internationally. Plan International undertook the largest ever global survey on online violence, which shows that 58% of girls and young women have been harassed or abused online, with one in five girls having left or significantly reduced use of a social media platform after being harassed. CEO of Plan International, Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen stated that the research highlights the shared similar experiences of harassment and discrimination faced by 14,000 girls across multiple continents, as girls are being driven out of online spaces in an increasing digital world.

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AND ONLINE ABUSE

The right to freedom of expression is enshrined in article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). However, as a qualified right it is subject to restrictions that are in accordance with law and necessary in a democratic society, which for example excludes hate speech.

Women’s rights are also underpinned in various international legal instruments. Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has been described as “an international bill of rights for women”. CEDAW defines discrimination against women and urges national action to end such discrimination.

Additionally, the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) is a unique legal instrument as it focuses on preventing and combating violence against women. Article 17 of the Istanbul Convention encourages the communication technology sector to implement policies and guidelines to prevent violence against women, thereby providing the possibility of greater protection for women in the virtual sphere. However, the UK is yet to ratify the Istanbul Convention.

UN Women responded to the impact of OVAW during COVID-19, recommending governments to include evidence-based measures to address OVAW in COVID-19 response and action plans aimed at addressing violence against women. They further urged civil society organisations to provide tools and resources to this end.

MOVING FORWARD

Online abuse affecting women and girls causes self-censorship and excludes women from the virtual public sphere. While we are all entitled to our right to freedom of expression, virtual violence against women prevents civic engagement. As a result of the pandemic, the shift to the virtual sphere has increased the prevalence of online abuse, causing women and girls to feel intimidated and silenced.

To combat online abuse in a world that relies on the virtual sphere now more than ever, we must champion digital rights by urging governments and social media platforms to take responsibility to better protect users. On an individual level, we should be conscious digital citizens, recognising the intersectional nature of womanhood, reporting hateful comments online, and supporting those who have been affected.

Harleen Roop has recently graduated with an LLM in Human Rights Law from Queen Mary University of London. She is keen to explore intersecting and emerging areas of human rights, for example, her dissertation focussed on whether the UK should criminalise online misogyny.

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