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Technology-Based Abuse: Intimate Partner Violence and the Use of Information Communication Technologies

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Mediating Misogyny

Abstract

Information communication technologies (ICTs) are changing the way people experience intimate relationships (Fox and Rainie, Pew Research Center, February 2014, “The Web at 25.” Available at http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/02/25/the-web-at-25-in-the-u-s, 2014). However, research literature exploring the impact of ICTs on the abuse experiences of victim-survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) is minimal. Using a feminist lens, which focuses on gender-based violence, this chapter examines how IPV victims-survivors face unique online problems. Studies show women experience intimate partner violence through technology, but also rely on ICT to find support outside the relationship. These findings indicate that IPV victim-survivors experiences of technology-based abuse are related to other forms of gender-based violence and, anecdotally, have been linked with stalking and homicide. Four specific forms of online abuses are described—monitoring, cyberstalking, harassment, and humiliation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Megan Lindsay Brown, Lauren A. Reed & Jill Theresa Messing

Authors
  1. Megan Lindsay Brown
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  2. Lauren A. Reed
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  3. Jill Theresa Messing
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Media Arts, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Jacqueline Ryan Vickery

  2. Mayborn School of Journalism, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Tracy Everbach

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Brown, M.L., Reed, L.A., Messing, J.T. (2018). Technology-Based Abuse: Intimate Partner Violence and the Use of Information Communication Technologies. In: Vickery, J., Everbach, T. (eds) Mediating Misogyny. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72917-6_11

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