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ABSTRACT
Technology has become a vital part of people’s lives. Mobile phones, smart phones, social media platforms, apps and other internet-connected devices and software have changed our way of interacting with each other, as well as managing everyday tasks. In this article, the use of such technology is discussed in relation to its integration in the lives of women who are victims of domestic violence. The study is based on interviews with 21 Swedish women, all abused by their former husband or boyfriend. The empirical data demonstrates how technology is used by the perpetrators as a means of coercive control. The analysis shows that the accessibility of digital media enables the abuser to be constantly present in the woman’s life, even after she has left him. However, the same technology is also important to the women, enabling them to manage victimisation, monitor the perpetrators, store evidence, obtain information, gain support and keep in touch with family and friends. This article reveals the use of technology in IPV as a ‘double-edged sword’; providing the capacity to protect and even to use as a ‘counter-strike’ by victims, as well as enhancing perpetrators’ capacity to harm.
ABSTRAKT
I denna artikel diskuteras hur digital teknik används då kvinnor utsätts för våld i en nära relation. Studien baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer med 21 svenska kvinnor som lämnat sina män efter att de blivit utsatta för våld. Analysen visar att förövarna använder digital teknik, bland annat smarta telefoner, digitala övervakningssystem, sociala medier och plattformar, för att kontrollera, hota, förfölja och övervaka kvinnorna. Även efter separation möjliggör tekniken för våldsutövare att vara närvarande i den våldsutsattas liv utan något krav på fysisk närvaro. Samtidigt gav samma teknologi de våldsutsatta kvinnorna verktyg för att hantera situationen genom att i viss mån övervaka förövaren, samla information, spara bevis, söka stöd och i akuta situationer be om hjälp. Sammantaget kan digital teknik både förlänga och underlätta kontroll och övervakning från den manliga partnern men samtidigt ge kvinnorna en viss möjlighet till kontroll. I den meningen utgör tekniken ett tveeggat svärd.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 This network data is a part of an ongoing study, to be analyzed elsewhere.
2 The Regional Ethical Review, Lund, reviewed and approved the project (Dnr.2017/1077).
3 Research shows that recorded evidence of intimate personal violence can be hard to stand as evidence in Australian courts (Douglas & Burdon, Citation2018).
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Notes on contributors
Susanne Boethius
Susanne Boethius PhD is a researcher at the Department of Sociology at Lund University, in Sweden. Her research interests are interpersonal violence, violence against women and treatment programmes for violent men. Her current research focuses on the social networks involvement and responses to domestic violence.
Malin Åkerström
Malin Åkerström is Professor of Sociology at Lund University in Sweden. Her research focuses on ethnographic studies of social control and deviance. Her most recent book is Hidden Attractions of Administration – The Peculiar Appeal of Meetings and Documents (Routledge), and she has published articles in Sociological Focus, Sociological Review, Qualitative Research, Social Problems, Symbolic Interaction, Sociological Perspective, and many other journals.
Margareta Hydén
Margareta Hydén is Professor Emerita in Social Work at Linköping University, Sweden and has held visiting research positions in various institutions internationally. Her major area of research concerns interpersonal violence. Her recent work focuses on narrating sensitive topics, children’s narratives of witnessing violence in the family and social network’s responses to interpersonal violence.