Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence Victimization during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Behaviors and Attitudes

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing attention to Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSV) experienced by adults, this is still an underexplored topic. This study involved a sample of 289 adults (aged 18 to 56), focusing on reported indicators of TFSV in a year dominated by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Reports of TFSV victimization were analyzed using an existing 21-item scale that encompassed four TFSV dimensions: i) digital sexual harassment; ii) image-based sexual abuse (IBSA); iii) sexual aggression and/or coercion; and iv) gender and/or sexuality-based harassment. While examining the experience of one or more TFSV behaviors by independent socio-demographic variables (e.g., gender, age, or sexuality), the results showed that women were significantly more likely than men to report several forms of sexual harassment victimization. LGB+-identifying adults were significantly more likely than heterosexual-identifying respondents to report 11 behaviors from the used TFSV victimization scale. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, many types of violence against women and the LGBT+ community have been intensified, and this study indicates TFSV as no exception to that. The results show gendered patterns in online sexual victimization, as well as in the nature of TFSV. These findings indicate the importance of considering additional institutional measures to prevent this phenomenon.

KEYWORDS:

• Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSV)
• Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
• gender- and sexuality-based harassment
• COVID-19 pandemic

Author note

Pamela Huiskes, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal; Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis, UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research, University Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal; Sónia Caridade, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis, Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the University Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University Fernando Pessoa, and an integrated member of the UFP Energy, Environment and Health Research Unit (FP-ENAS), University Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal.

Sónia Caridade, Ph.D. in Psychology of Justice from the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. She is currently an assistant professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Minho and an integrated member of the Center for Research in Psychology.

Acknowledgments

This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (Ref.: UIDB/PSI/01662/2020).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

All the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [institutional and national] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study. Additional informed consent was obtained from all individuals for whom identifying information is included in this article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Center (PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget (Ref.: UIDB/PSI/01662/2020) to Sónia Caridade, Principal Investigator.