Webinar: Technology-facilitated abuse: Extent, nature and responses in the Australian community

“I wanted an answer from her, and so I just called her about 150 times in, I don’t know, a two-hour period. And she didn’t pick up, but I just kept doing that.”

The use of technology to perpetrate violence against women is a rapidly growing and serious problem in Australia. However, there is a scarcity of research about what motivates perpetrators to engage in technology-facilitated abuse (TFA). Understanding these motivations will be vital in helping to identify gaps in our knowledge of TFA and, importantly, in exploring potential solutions to prevent, detect and dissuade TFA perpetration.

This webinar launched the two final reports within a national study examining the extent and nature of, and responses to, technology-facilitated abuse within the Australian community: Technology-facilitated abuse: Interviews with victims and survivors and perpetrators and Technology-facilitated abuse: National survey of Australian adults’ experiences.

This webinar gives viewers insight into one of the first global studies to engage with perpetrators using qualitative methods to understand drivers, experiences and characteristics of, and motivations for, TFA. Using a nationally representative survey of Australians aged 18 years and over, this webinar also helps you understand the national prevalence rates for the victimisation and perpetration of key behavioural subtypes of TFA, including which groups are particularly affected.

Featuring a panel discussion of researchers, practitioners and policymakers, this webinar unpacks the evidence and discusses how the findings will shape future efforts to prevent and respond to TFA.

This discussion is facilitated by Padma Raman PSM (CEO, ANROWS) with:

• Dr Asher Flynn, Associate Professor, Criminology, Monash University
• Dr Anastasia Powell, Associate Professor, Criminology, RMIT University
• Ashanti Kulasekera, Coordinator – Direct Services Team, InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence
• Ela Stewart, Manager Legal Centre and Policy, InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence
• Carolyn Wilkes, Manager, Women’s Programs, eSafety Commission
• Joanne Yates, General Manager – Advocacy and Communications, No to Violence

This webinar is designed for policymakers, practice designers, practitioners and researchers working in domestic and family violence, and those working with technology in essential service provision from gas, electricity and financial services to telecommunications and internet service providers.

Enquiries: rachel.pow@anrows.org.au

Disclaimer: ANROWS webinars bring together a diverse range of speakers on a particular topic, informed by the evidence base, lived expertise, and policy and practice knowledge. The views expressed by speakers or other third parties in ANROWS webinars and any subsequent materials are those of the speaker or third party and not, necessarily, of ANROWS.

WATCH

Presenters:

Dr Asher Flynn
Dr Asher Flynn is an associate professor of criminology in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University and the Vice President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology. She is an award-winning international researcher in policy and prevention concerning gendered and sexual violence, with a key focus on AI and technology-facilitated abuse. Asher is the recipient of a number of prestigious national and international research fellowships and positions including at the University of Durham, West Virginia University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Warwick. She has advised the United Nations, Meta (Facebook) and the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner on policy and prevention of technology-facilitated violence and abuse, and is the only Australian advisor on the 12-person Meta (Facebook) Global Women’s Safety Board.

Dr Anastasia Powell
Dr Anastasia Powell is an Associate Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies at RMIT University. Anastasia is a leading researcher into family and sexual violence, specialising in justice responses, primary prevention and technology-facilitated abuse. Anastasia is currently a member of the editorial board of the international journal Crime, Media, Culture, and is Editor-in-Chief of the book series Crime and Justice in Digital Society (Springer). She has held numerous research grants and commissioned funding agreements, has published eight books and numerous articles, and is a former recipient of a prestigious Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA).

Carolyn Wilkes
Carolyn Wilkes is a manager in the Women’s Program’s team in the Office of the eSafety Commissioner and lives in Ngunnawal Country. eSafety provides a wide range of resources and training focused on reducing the occurrence and impact of gender-based technology-facilitated abuse. Prior to joining eSafety in February, Carolyn was responsible for Australian Government programs that fund independent advocacy support for people with disability. Other roles have been in local government community development and in the non-government sector.

Joanne Yates
Joanne Yates is No to Violence’s advocacy and communications lead. Joanne has extensive experience in public policy development and stakeholder engagement across a range of portfolios including women’s leadership, law enforcement and social justice within government, industry and not-for-profit settings. She has recently been a policy director at the Defence and Veteran Suicide Royal Commission and an advisor to government on family, domestic and sexual violence, managing policy and legislative reform to address perpetration and to improve responses for victims and survivors.

Ashanti Kulasekera
Ashanti Kulasekera is a Sri Lankan-Australian social worker who has practiced in the mental health, out-of-home care and family violence sectors with a passion for trauma-informed and culturally responsive practice. She has worked specifically in the family violence sector since early 2019 on the Harmony Project, which supports medical professionals to recognise and respond to signs of family violence in their patients; in direct service delivery, working with South Asian victims and survivors of family violence; and now as the Coordinator of the Direct Services team at inTouch. The Direct Services team supports victims and survivors from migrant and refugee backgrounds experiencing family violence by providing an in-language, in-culture intake and case management response.

Ela Stewart
Ela Stewart is the Manger – Legal Centre and Policy at In Touch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence. In this role, Ela focuses on advocacy, research, analysis, consultation, and the development of responses to emerging legal and policy issues that impact migrant and refugee communities in the area of family violence. She represents inTouch at a range of state-based and national networks and working groups.

Prior to this role, Ela worked in the community legal sector coordinating social policy initiatives as well as developing and implementing community education programs, focusing specifically on access to justice for hard-to-reach communities. Ela also has a background in the tertiary education sector, having worked as a researcher and teacher in politics and history at Monash University.

Facilitated by:

Padma Raman
Padma Raman PSM has a wealth of experience as a senior executive at both the state and federal level, and in 2018 was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding service leading significant cultural, technological and governance change. Before starting as CEO of ANROWS, she was Chief Executive of the Australian Human Rights Commission for 11 years. Prior to that she established the Victorian Law Reform Commission, where she was Chief Executive Officer for nine years. During that time, Ms Raman was a member of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and was instrumental in assisting the Victorian Government develop and implement the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006.