New study shows 4 in 5 women and girls in Wales have received abuse online

Four in five women and girls in Wales have received abuse online and almost half of these experiences were also sexually explicit, new research has found.

Alarming statistics from the UK’s largest-ever study into online violence against women and girls (OVAWG) has named Wales and Scotland as the nations most affected by the problem.

Over 17% of women and girls in both Wales and Scotland having experienced online violence compared with 15% in England and 12% in Northern Ireland.

For women and girls in Wales that have experienced online violence, 81% received text- based abuse on social media via tweets, Facebook posts and direct messages, and 48% experienced sexually explicit abuse.

The study found that almost three quarters of those committing online violence (73%) are strangers and over half (56%) are anonymous users.

People in Wales who were surveyed highlighted several factors which they thought may motivate the perpetrators. 50% of those surveyed stated that those conducting online violence and abusers can remain anonymous and 48% saying that perpetrators know they won’t be prosecuted for these offences, so think can get away with it.

50% said they thought that The Crown Prosecution Service has too few resources to help those who have experienced online violence.

Mental health

The study, conducted by researchers at The Open University, reported that almost a third (32%) of women have been subject to online violence for no reason other than simply being a woman.

Online abuse and violence experienced are often received from complete strangers.

Half of women and girls who have experienced online violence have received sexually explicit content, including online sexual harassment and threats.

Those affected by online violence have suffered a major blow to their mental health and wellbeing and recall feeling forced to re-evaluate their willingness to speak openly online.

For many, experiences of online violence spread into their day-to-day lives and have had a negative impact on their social life.

Evaluating these levels, an overwhelming number of Welsh people surveyed believe that
more needs to be done both online and offline to prevent and reduce online violence against women and girls.

57% of women and girls polled who experienced online violence said they often opted to file a report with the platform provider via their reporting mechanism as opposed to going straight to the police.

A quarter of those surveyed in Wales, who didn’t report directly to the platform provider or to the police confided in friends and family instead.

Violence

Professor Olga Jurasz, Professor of Law at The Open University and Director of the Observatory on Online Violence Against Women, who led the project, said: “Online violence against women and girls can take many forms such as trolling, threats, abuse,
unwanted sexual remarks, non-consensual sharing of intimate photos and messages, among many other examples and it disproportionately effects women.

“This can have a serious impact on women’s wellbeing and their behaviour, including a negative impact on mental and physical health, having to implement measures to protect themselves from abuse, and a change in willingness or ability to express views online.

“This new research – the first ever to be conducted into OVAWG at this scale across the four nations – shows just how widespread the issue of OVAWG really is and will provide policy makers with a foundation to help reduce instances of OVAWG and to improve outcomes for those affected.”

Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition EVAW) added:
“Our lives are increasingly lived online and technological developments are creating new ways for violence against women and girls to be perpetrated. This abuse is connected to the threat of violence women and girls face offline – it cannot be minimised or ignored.

“The laws we have in place are ineffective at tackling online violence against women and girls – we’re pleased to see that 70% of women and girls agree. We call on the government to make sure its new guidance in the Online Safety Bill is effectively enforced and as robust as the Code of Practice we developed with specialist partners and legal experts.”

The OVAWG research project forms part of the OU’s Open Societal Challenges Programme, which aims to tackle some of the most important societal challenges of our time through impact-driven research.