By EIGE -  European Institute for Gender Equality

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to increasing our reliance on digital technologies in our everyday activities, consolidating internet access as a new fundamental human right. Digital platforms have often been celebrated for allowing equal opportunities for public self expression, regardless of one’s identity and status. Yet, not everyone is welcome in the cyberspace. The digital arena has become a breeding ground for a range of exclusionary and violent discourses and beliefs, expressed and disseminated in a context of anonymity and impunity. Both women and men can be victims of cyber violence. However, evidence shows that women and girls are highly exposed to it. Not only are they more likely to be targeted by cyber violence; they can also suffer from serious consequences, resulting in physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm and suffering. Women and girls often end up withdrawing from the digital sphere, silencing and isolating themselves and eventually losing opportunities to build their education, professional career and support networks. Cyber violence against women and girls (CVAWG) is often dismissed as an insignificant and virtual phenomenon. However, as digital (online) and face-to-face (offline) spaces become more and more integrated, CVAWG often amplifies (or is a precursor for) violence and victimisation in the physical world. CVAWG is not a private problem and does not exist in a vacuum: it is an integral part of the continuum of violence against women and girls. Just like any other form of gender-based violence, CWAWG is deeply rooted in the social inequality between women and men that persists in our world. CVAWG is an intersectional form of violence with different patterns and levels of vulnerability and risk among specific groups of women and girls. It can be exacerbated when it is committed on the grounds of gender in combination with other factors, including age, ethnic or racial origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion or belief. Combating CVAWG: aims and scope of this report The aim of this report is to provide an in-depth investigation into the phenomenon of cyber violence and to examine how it affects women and girls specifically.  

Vilnius LITHUANIA: EIGE, 2022. 110p.

By Laura Ávila and Alicia Flórez 

This investigation exposes gender-based violence in Tibú, a Colombian town located on the border with Venezuela that serves as a drug trafficking corridor for several illegal armed groups. In 2021, at least 13 women were killed and dozens more were forced to flee the municipality amid one of the worst waves of violence ever seen in the area.  

Washington, DC: InSight Crime, 2022.  30p.

By  Catherine Mackenzie and Tanya Mackay

Violence against women is one of the most pervasive and dangerous ways in which power imbalances between women and men operate in Australian society. Increasing outrage and pressure from the community service and health sectors, plus compelling evidence on the alarming prevalence of violence against women, led to the launch of The National Plan to reduce violence against women and their children 2010-2022 and associated Action Plans. A great deal of media and policy attention has been directed toward both highlighting the unacceptably high incidence of, and finding ways to reduce, violence against women and their children. Disturbingly, almost a decade after the National Plan was launched, surveys of attitudes towards violence against women are not finding a great deal of positive change, particularly among young people. Attitudes that are supportive of violence against women, particularly those of young men, are especially concerning. Young women are the highest risk group of women for being victims of violence. Young people are the leaders of the next generations and it is crucial that this generation’s leaders take immediate action to ensure that the next generation has the support and empowerment to identify and stop violence against women. If this does not happen, it will be a shameful addition to the long list of intergenerational inequities that will result from the inaction of our generation. Australia-wide studies indicate that higher proportions of rural women have experienced intimate partner violence than urban women.

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  However, most research has sought the accounts of women living in urban environments and policy and funding allocation is therefore skewed toward the needs of urban women (Dillon, Hussain & Loxton, 2015). While some studies have investigated rural intimate partner violence from the perspective of service workers (e.g. Wendt, 2010) few have reported on the perspectives of women (for examples, see Campo & Tayton, 2015; Ragusa, 2017). This project addresses this important gap by aiming to understand young country women’s (16-24 years) perceptions and experiences of intimate partner violence to inform Uniting Country SA (UCSA) Youth and Domestic Violence service worker practices. The project also aimed to provide evidence to assist UCSA coordinate their work across internal and external services and with their local communities to actively reduce violence against women in current and future generations. Interviews were conducted with young country women aged 16-24 years and country women who had experienced intimate partner violence when they were aged 16-24 years, to provide data that would meet project aims.  

Adelaide: The Australian Alliance for Social Enterprise and University of South Australia, 2019     41p.