10 Forms of Digital Gender-Based Violence You Should Know

Online spaces are amazing avenues for connecting with like-minded individuals and friends, but it’s just as easy to encounter harm. In fact, the internet, social media, and innovations in digital devices are worsening current forms of gender-based violence, while also creating new forms of abuse.

You may have heard the terms “capping”, “sextortion” or “deepfakes” come up in the news or conversation and wondered what they were. Most of these acts are broadly referred to as ‘digital violence’ — or technology-facilitated violence — an all-encompassing term that refers to the criminal acts committed, assisted or intensified using technology, the internet, or social media. This unwanted digitally assisted behaviour can happen to anyone, but women, girls, and gender-diverse people are disproportionately targeted and affected by it.

With rapidly evolving technology and vocabulary, it’s important to stay aware of the types of digital violence so you can protect your privacy and safety, as well as those you care about. Here are some of the most common forms of abuse at play in our digital world.

Capping

Young people may use this word to refer to lying, but it also refers to recording or taking screenshots of people in vulnerable or intimate situations, often without the other person knowing, and posting to a video-streaming or social media platform. For example, the introduction of smart glasses is contributing to a growing trend where unsuspecting women are secretly recorded and content is posted to social media without their knowledge or consent.

Cyberbullying

The harassment from colleagues, classmates or acquaintances through the internet or social media with the intent of causing distress and hurting the victim. Oftentimes, this form of harassment is from individuals who know the victim offline, showcasing a power dynamic where the bullying continues in person as well.

Cyberstalking

The use of social media, GPS trackers, and purposeful retrieval of another’s location. Whether or not it is public information doesn’t entitle perpetrators to use that information to distress another.

Doxing

The act of sharing or confirming identifying information about another — such as their home address, workplace, or personal connections — is a violation of privacy and can put an individual’s safety at risk.

Flaming

The posting of hateful, insulting, and hostile comments online. The intent is to cause emotional distress and harm, making others feel unsafe. Flaming differs from cyberbullying as most perpetrators target people they don’t know personally.

Sextortion

A combination of the words “sexual extortion,” this is a form of blackmail in which perpetrators threaten to share or post often sexually explicit images or videos of an individual if their demands are not met. Even if a perpetrator is only threatening to share compromising material, it is still considered sextortion.

Trolling

A “troll” deliberately works to elicit emotional or explosive reactions from other users in online spaces for their own amusement or enjoyment, often using harassment and unwanted, repeated behaviours.

Grooming

This occurs when an adult gains the trust of a minor and manipulates them into sexual exploitation. The “groomer,” who typically lies about who they really are, relies on the child keeping their connection and actions a secret from the trusted adults in their lives.

Hacking

The intrusion of another’s computer or online accounts to obtain, steal, reveal or manipulate someone’s personal data.

Deepfakes

The use of an AI tool to create or alter audio, video or image to mimic the likeness or voice of another person. Perpetrators create sometimes sexually explicit deepfake content to threaten and blackmail their victims.

Women, girls, and gender-diverse people deserve to feel safe wherever they spend most of their time. Staying conscious of the terminology you learn here helps keep you and others aware in online spaces. Assault is illegal and not welcome, online or off. If you ever come across anyone committing this form of abuse, be sure to report them; most of the time, what they are doing is illegal or violates the platform’s terms of service. Finding ways to talk about digital violence opens pathways to being able to monitor and talk to young people into exploring the internet safely.