Revolutionising Online Safety: Tackling Technology-Facilitated Abuse to Protect Victims and Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Science, Tech, Eng and Public Policy
Abstract
Online abuse is one of the most pressing challenges for our digital society. This is best demonstrated in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) which continues to affect over two million UK adults with nearly 85% of victims/survivors subjected to some form of technology-facilitated abuse ("tech abuse"). Tech abuse describes the use of "everyday" digital systems (computers, smartphones, apps) to coerce, control, and harm a person or groups of individuals. It includes offences such as image-based abuses ("revenge porn"), cyberstalking, and GPS-tracking. It exposes victims/survivors and their children to all types of physical, emotional, and financial harm.
However, the true scale, nature, and impact of tech abuse is unknown, which makes developing solutions extremely problematic. Additionally, the issue is of pressing importance because tech abuse is on the brink of rapid change. As "smart", Internet of Things (IoT) devices and Artificial Intelligence (AI) become commonplace, these systems drastically increase the reach of abusers and the ease with which they offend. For example, smart speakers or thermostats allow abusers to monitor or remotely control the physical environment of victims/survivors and gives them increased power over their most private data.
The proposed research programme draws on my specialisation on the intersection of emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and gender studies, developed through over 32 publications. The initial four years of my FLF will provide me with a leadership platform to drive change by studying:
(a) The conceptual fit of tech abuse with existing IPV definitions, theories, and models.
(b) The background, drivers, and practices of IPV tech abuse perpetrators.
(c) The safety and security shortcomings of existing digital systems such as smart, Internet-connected devices.
(d) The national and international policy landscape relating to domestic abuse, online harms, and cybercrime.
To achieve this, my FLF leverages excellent partnerships with a cross-sectoral mix of world-leading users and beneficiaries, including industrial (IBM, Kaspersky, Fujitsu, IoT Security Foundation), third sector (Respect, Refuge, Suzy Lamplugh Trust, European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence), academic (Prof Marianne Hester OBE, Prof Elizabeth Yardley, Dr Nicola Henry), and policy stakeholders (National Cyber Security Centre, Home Office, College of Policing).
Moreover, I have confirmed policy placements (UK Domestic Abuse Commissioner) and research visits (Cornell Tech, University of Melbourne), all of which are central to collate, validate, and triangulate data, to co-develop societal responses/technical design recommendations, and to advance my career, as well as my team's.
Together, my FLF will result in an unprecedented evidence-base to revolutionise the tech abuse landscape to support the security and safety of IPV victims/survivors, with the findings of the first four years culminating in the co-creation of interventions and the establishment of a much-needed theory of change.
However, the true scale, nature, and impact of tech abuse is unknown, which makes developing solutions extremely problematic. Additionally, the issue is of pressing importance because tech abuse is on the brink of rapid change. As "smart", Internet of Things (IoT) devices and Artificial Intelligence (AI) become commonplace, these systems drastically increase the reach of abusers and the ease with which they offend. For example, smart speakers or thermostats allow abusers to monitor or remotely control the physical environment of victims/survivors and gives them increased power over their most private data.
The proposed research programme draws on my specialisation on the intersection of emerging technologies, cybersecurity, and gender studies, developed through over 32 publications. The initial four years of my FLF will provide me with a leadership platform to drive change by studying:
(a) The conceptual fit of tech abuse with existing IPV definitions, theories, and models.
(b) The background, drivers, and practices of IPV tech abuse perpetrators.
(c) The safety and security shortcomings of existing digital systems such as smart, Internet-connected devices.
(d) The national and international policy landscape relating to domestic abuse, online harms, and cybercrime.
To achieve this, my FLF leverages excellent partnerships with a cross-sectoral mix of world-leading users and beneficiaries, including industrial (IBM, Kaspersky, Fujitsu, IoT Security Foundation), third sector (Respect, Refuge, Suzy Lamplugh Trust, European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence), academic (Prof Marianne Hester OBE, Prof Elizabeth Yardley, Dr Nicola Henry), and policy stakeholders (National Cyber Security Centre, Home Office, College of Policing).
Moreover, I have confirmed policy placements (UK Domestic Abuse Commissioner) and research visits (Cornell Tech, University of Melbourne), all of which are central to collate, validate, and triangulate data, to co-develop societal responses/technical design recommendations, and to advance my career, as well as my team's.
Together, my FLF will result in an unprecedented evidence-base to revolutionise the tech abuse landscape to support the security and safety of IPV victims/survivors, with the findings of the first four years culminating in the co-creation of interventions and the establishment of a much-needed theory of change.
Organisations
- University College London (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- National Cyber Security Centre (Project Partner)
- College of Policing (Project Partner)
- IBM (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Birmingham City University (Project Partner)
- RMIT University (Project Partner)
- HOME OFFICE (Project Partner)
- Kaspersky UK Ltd (Project Partner)
- Fujitsu (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Cornell Tech (Project Partner)
- University of Melbourne (Project Partner)
- University of Bristol (Project Partner)
- Refuge (Project Partner)
- Suzy Lamplugh Trust (Project Partner)
- Tech Works (Project Partner)
- Respect (Project Partner)
- Work with Perpetrators WWP EN (Project Partner)
- Domestic Abuse Commissioner (Project Partner)
Publications
Brown A
(2024)
Safeguarding the "Internet of Things" for Victim-Survivors of Domestic and Family Violence: Anticipating Exploitative Use and Encouraging Safety-by-Design
in Violence Against Women
Douglas H
(2023)
Policing Technology-Facilitated Domestic Abuse (TFDA): Views of Service Providers in Australia and the United Kingdom
in Journal of Family Violence
Maria Tanczer L
(2023)
Technology and Domestic and Family Violence - Victimisation, Perpetration and Responses
McManus S
(2023)
Receiving threatening or obscene messages from a partner and mental health, self-harm and suicidality: results from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey.
in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology
Neubauer L
(2023)
A Systematic Literature Review of the Use of Computational Text Analysis Methods in Intimate Partner Violence Research
in Journal of Family Violence
Straw I
(2023)
Safeguarding patients from technology-facilitated abuse in clinical settings: A narrative review.
in PLOS digital health
Straw I
(2023)
Medical cyber crises and biotechnological syndromes: a multisite clinical simulation study focused on digital health complaints.
in Lancet (London, England)
Turner S
(2024)
In principle vs in practice: User, expert and policymaker attitudes towards the right to data portability in the internet of things
in Computer Law & Security Review