Gendered abuse includes any form of physical, psychological or sexual harmful behaviours instigated against a person or group of people because of their gender. Technology affords the ability to enact these behaviours with greater speed and across multiple avenues.
We have partnered with the eSafety Commissioner’s Office to develop new prevention strategies that target technology-based gendered abuse.
About the project
Did you know that 4 in 10 Australian working women have experienced workplace sexual harassment in the last five years, along with just over a quarter of working men, and 1 in 7 Australian workers have enacted workplace sexual harassment facilitated by technology?
Formal workplace technologies, (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Slack) and informal technology use (e.g., social WhatsApp chats, and social media) can be leveraged to perpetrate workplace gendered abuse. But, while technology can facilitate gendered abuse in the workplace, technology can also provide avenues for solutions.
Despite increased resources supporting victim-survivors of tech-based abuse, there is a relative lack of collective evidence for how to effectively prevent workplace gendered tech-based abuse before it begins. So, we have partnered with the eSafety Commissioner’s Office to develop new prevention strategies that target technology-based gendered abuse.
Our project examines ways to positively intervene in the use of technology features and workplace context and prevent tech-based gendered abuse in the workplace.
The project aims to develop an evidence-based, intersectional, systems-based approach to effective primary prevention of tech-based abuse of women. This project will develop, implement and evaluate interventions, which will be co-designed based on evidence and community input.
These interventions will address tech-based abuse in the workplace. The project will deliver digital training modules, self-defence resources and a prevention-based communication strategy that support sustainable peer support networks. These networks will build the confidence of individuals, organisations and communities to address problematic tech-based behaviours.
If you have any questions about the project, feel free to get in touch with the team at gtap.giwl@anu.edu.au.
This research is funded through the eSafety Commissioner’s Preventing Tech-based Abuse of Women Grants Program – an Australian Government initiative.
The eSafety Commissioner
The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) is the Australian Government’s independent online safety regulator. Their purpose is to help safeguard Australians at risk of online harms and to promote safer, more positive online experiences. As the first agency of its kind in the world, eSafety is at the forefront of preventing online risks, reducing the impacts of harms and building safer digital spaces.
The Preventing Tech-based Abuse of Women Grants Program is part of the Australian Government’s commitment to improving the safety of Australian women and their children through the prevention of technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
The program will be delivered from 2023 to 2028 with a total of $10 million available over at least three rounds. The program forms part of the Government’s commitment to the aims and objectives of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32. The National Plan highlights the need to understand and factor in the role of technology in addressing violence against women and their children.
In 2023, eSafety awarded $3 million in new grants under Round 1 of the Preventing Tech-based Abuse of Women Grants Program.
Partner with us to help prevent tech-facilitated gender-based workplace abuse
We’re seeking organisations to partner with us to help us stop gendered tech-based abuse in the workplace before it begins.
We’re looking for organisations that have two or more distinct organisational department, teams or divisions and use technology for work communication and activities to help support us with this vital research.
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