When Jane* learned that intimate photos of her had been posted on a website without her consent, she expected the police would help her. Instead, she was warned that researching where her photos had been shared might put her at risk of breaking the law.
After she was handed a leaflet on internet safety and told to go to tech companies for help, but to expect little from them, the case was closed.
“The officer called us at all times of day and approached the case in a way that was insensitive, victim-blaming and entirely inappropriate, with misogynistic undertones,” she recalled.
Jane’s Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts had all been hacked, along with those of several other women, and the images extracted from private messages.
The incident was incredibly distressing: on the platform where the images were posted, commenters left derogatory messages, and one stranger used identifying personal data – including names of people and schools and links to social media profiles – to contact Jane directly.
“I felt exposed, harassed, and stalked online by a community of anonymous perverts,” she said. “The experience left me feeling angry, violated and unsafe.”
Like many women who have had similar experiences, Jane has moved more of her life offline and no longer feels comfortable in many online spaces.
A new report from Refuge and End Violence Against Women (EVAW) says: “For many women, abuse, harassment and exposure to misogynistic content have become an ‘accepted risk’ of participating in online spaces.” It says this is despite Ofcom introducing voluntary guidance for tech companies on tackling violence against women and girls one year ago.
Disheartened by the traumatic reporting process, Jane appointed the law firm Leigh Day, which successfully pressed Ofcom into opening a formal investigation into the platforms, and the police into reopening their criminal investigation – though she feels there has been “little to no clarity or transparency” about how long these will take.
Part of the difficulty when looking into such cases is that perpetrators can be based around the world and are able to conceal the IP addresses that identify their locations. But Jane argues this is no different from other online crime and no barrier to action, saying: “We wouldn’t expect the same response when it comes to other serious and complex crimes, such as terrorism.”
Refuge and EVAW’s report found that most women in situations similar to Jane’s did not report their experiences to online platforms or the police, and when they did they often felt the response was poor. In many cases, they felt their complaints were misunderstood or not taken seriously, they were told to adapt their own behaviour, and either no action was taken or it was too slow.
A survey of ۲,۰۰۰ women for the report found that ۱۷% of those who made a complaint to the police did not have their cases investigated at all.
It also found that nearly half (۴۷%) of those surveyed aged ۱۶-۲۴ had experienced violence online, with one in four experiencing misogyny or sexual violence.
One in five had been stalked, monitored, harassed or controlled; ۱۸% had experienced image-based abuse, including being sent unsolicited images or having their intimate images shared without consent; and ۹% had been doxed, meaning their personal information, such as phone numbers and addresses, was shared online.
Nearly one in three of women of all ages had been affected, and one in seven said they had left social media platforms as a result. For ۱۵% of respondents, the level of abuse was so bad they said they had felt suicidal.
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The research also found that one in six women aged ۱۶-۲۴ had received dating, sex and relationships advice from an AI chatbot that they considered inappropriate, unhealthy or unsafe.
Gemma Sherrington, the chief executive of Refuge, said that while Ofcom’s guidance was a welcome step, the regulator “must go much further in holding tech companies legally responsible for combating the normalisation of misogyny, holding perpetrators to account, and keeping all women and survivors safe”.
The report also called for enhanced tech abuse training for police and prosecutors, a new online safety commission or ombuds role, ringfenced funding for the specialist services, and for Ofcom be empowered to take “swifter and more robust enforcement action”.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Tackling the harms that women and girls disproportionately face online is a top priority for Ofcom. The law is clear that tech firms must take down illegal content – including harassment, stalking, violent threats and abuse – when they become aware of it.
“We’re also cracking down on the spread of illegal intimate images, forcing tech firms to act to stop such content spreading on their platforms, as well as tightening our codes to reflect new quicker takedown timeframes.
“We’ve also shown we won’t hesitate to act where tech firms fall short, with investigations open into three services for suspected failures to prevent individuals from encountering illegal intimate abuse imagery and other illegal content. We’re working to conclude these as swiftly as possible, following a fair, robust and transparent process.”
A government spokesperson said: “This report lays bare the scale of the problem, and it is totally unacceptable. We are taking some of the boldest actions in the world to protect women online.
“Platforms have a legal duty to remove illegal content, and Ofcom has our full backing to take robust action against those who fail to do so.
“We are also requiring that platforms remove non-consensual intimate images within ۴۸ hours of it being reported and, in some cases, having senior executives face liability.”
*Name has been changed
