Online abuse can sometimes be hard to notice, especially as there is no solid definition, and it occurs on a scale in its severity.
As of 2021, research by Refuge found that 1 in 3 women in the UK have experienced online abuse at some point in their life. Below, we look at what digital abuse is, and how to recognise it.
What is Digital Abuse?
While there is no universal digital abuse definition, it can be explained as a form of domestic abuse in which a person uses technology as a platform to control, threaten, or in other ways harm another.
Typically, digital abuse comes alongside other forms of abuse, whether that be financial, physical, emotional, or other.
Digital abuse in relationships is typically how people expect it to arise, but it can come from anyone. You could be a victim of digital abuse from friends, family, colleagues, or even someone unknown to you.
Examples of Digital Abuse
Perpetrators of digital abuse use technology in a number of ways, often as a way of controlling their victim. This could come in the form of someone close to you abusing tracking features, or using their device to gain access to private information without consent (for example, by downloading spyware). Some examples of digital abuse are as follows.
Social Media
Social media is a common method of digital abuse, particularly as people can create a false account, or pose as someone else. Hacking someone’s account directly is a crime, but impersonating them online is not.
For example, the act of pretending to be someone else and initiating an online relationship with someone as that persona has coined its own term; catfishing. This kind of behaviour has become so commonplace that there are TV shows about it, and many people have experienced, or know someone who has experienced it, themselves.
Sexual Digital Abuse
Digital abuse in relationships can also overlap with sexual abuse. Unfortunately, it often takes reaching an extreme for people to recognise sexual digital abuse in a romantic relationship.
Sending sexual photos without having consent to send them or sharing another person’s sexual photos without their consent/holding the photos over them as a form of blackmail are all forms of digital abuse; one of the most serious kinds.
An extreme example of this is the recent news is the case of Stephen Bear, who has been imprisoned for sharing revenge pornography of his ex-girlfriend, Georgia Harrison. Bear has been sentenced to 21 months having been found guilty of voyeurism and sharing private sexual content without consent.
Surveillance
Surveillance is also a common form of digital abuse. For all of technology’s benefits, it can be used in a way that invades another’s privacy. Home security tech, apps, and virtual home assistants can all be abused by perpetrators to track the whereabouts of their victim, either with or without their knowledge.
Phishing
Although a much less personal form, phishing schemes also count as a form of digital abuse, whoever may be behind it. Phishing is a form of online scam, typically involving a scheme that results in the victim losing money.
While the above are examples of some of the most common forms, ultimately, digital abuse is any kind of abuse or distrust that comes from behind a screen.
Is Digital Abuse Illegal?
Digital abuse can come in many different forms, as discussed above. While harmful, abuse of technology to affect another person isn’t always illegal. However, that isn’t to say that it never is.
As a general rule of thumb, if the activity would be illegal offline, it’s illegal online, too. For example, acts like cyber stalking, harassment, and malicious communication when acted on to an extreme degree can all be illegal.
Other forms of digital abuse are more of a grey area. For example, Is Gaslighting a Legal Concern?
How Howells Can Help
Do you think that you or someone you know could be a victim of digital abuse? Whoever the perpetrator may be, Howells can provide you with the legal advice you need. We have experts in divorce law and family law who can help you if the perpetrator is someone you’re close to. Get in touch with us today to find out more.
