Na konferenciji je ispred udruge Domine izlagala Katarina Križan koja je izložila analizu primjera digitalnog nasilja kojem su žene izložene a na temelju prakse pružanja pravne i psihološke podrške ženama i drugim žrtvama rodno uvjetovanog nasilja u savjetovalištu udruge Domine. U nastavku prenosimo izlaganje u cijelosti.
Kick-off konferencija u sklopu EU projekta „Podizanje svijesti o rodno utemeljenom cyber nasilju i zagovaranje sigurnijeg internetskog okruženja za žene i djevojke (bE- SAFE)”
Perpetuiranje nasilja u digitalnoj sferi
Domine – Organizacija za promicanje prava žena
(Uvod)
Govorimo iz pozicije organizacije koja vodi Savjetovalište za žene žrtve obiteljskog i seksualnog nasilja iz koje je vidljivo kako su slučajevi digitalnog nasilja s kojima smo se susretale izravno vezani uz nasilje nad ženama u intimnim partnerskim odnosima. Dakle, digitalno nasilje je izravna posljedica i nastavak takvog nasilja i kao takvog ga moramo analizirati.
Drago nam je da se o ovim problemima raspravlja, da ih se istražuje i analizira, te zahvaljujemo na prilici za sudjelovanje u ovom važnom projektu.
Razlog za ovu analizu i zašto se činila tako kompleksnom je naš osobni dojam o takvim slučajevima kao posebno brutalnim i složenim.
Prema evidenciji naše organizacije, statistički se radi o malom broju slučajeva, što je također podatak sam za sebe, a može ukazivati na problem neosviještenosti koji se očituje u neprijavljivanju i neprepoznavanju digitalnog nasilja kao takvog.
U ovom panelu predstavit ćemo analizu jednog konkretnog slučaja s kojim smo se susreli u našoj organizaciji i naše glavne zaključke koje ću elaborirati nešto kasnije.
Našu analizu karakterizira spoznaja da digitalno nasilje nad ženama nije samo produžetak nasilja nad ženama u offline prostoru, već njegovo ponavljanje i što je najvažnije nadogradnja koja uključuje ključne koncepte trajnosti, bezvremenosti, bez prostornosti, dostupnosti i neposrednosti, a koje ćemo analizirati koristeći jedan primjer slučaja.
Ne ulazeći previše u detalje, poštujući privatnost i zaštitu žena žrtava nasilja, reći ćemo da se radi o prijetnji objavljivanjem intimnog sadržaja na Internetu od strane bivšeg partnera.
Ovdje govorimo o nekoliko slojeva nasilja.
- Imamo nasilje koje se događa ili se dogodilo kroz intimni odnos, bilo da se radi o fizičkom zlostavljanju, uhođenju, kontroli i psihičkom zlostavljanju.
- Drugi sloj nasilja javlja se u online sferi prijetnjama objavljivanja seksualno eksplicitnog sadržaja na Internetu.
- Treći sloj je osjećaj straha i srama od objave istog sadržaja
- dok je četvrti sloj najvažniji, a to je trajnost sadržaja. Eksplicitni video zapisi, koji se u ovom slučaju koriste kao čin osvete za prekid intimne veze, u nekoliko klikova dospijevaju u online prostor i tamo ostaju dugo ili zauvijek.
- Što dodatno može uzrokovati, i najvjerojatnije hoće, peti sloj, traumu i internetsko uznemiravanje ne samo od strane bivšeg partnera već i od drugih muškaraca (i žena) online i offline. Problem s reakcijama je što se ovaj čin objave intimne snimke ne doživljava kao moralno koruptivan, već kao zabava. Zato ne možemo govoriti o digitalnom nasilju, a da ne govorimo o nasilju nad ženama općenito.
Drugi koncept koji ističemo je pojam bezvremenosti. Drugim riječima sadržaj ostaje vidljiv i upisuje se u povijest i identitet žene, odnosno, objavljivanje snimke “dopušta da se događaj nastavi događati, a mi bismo sugerirali da se zbog javno dostupne snimke, događaj se nije prestao događati” (Butler, 2007; Dodge, 2015:6). Tako nasilje ulazi u kontinuum koji duboko šteti ženama koje ga doživljavaju. Također briše granice između javnog i privatnog.
Društveni mediji postali su gotovo sveprisutni u svakodnevnom životu budući da su ugrađeni u mobilne telefone kao aplikacije te su postali dio osnovne komunikacijske infrastrukture društava.
Digitalna komunikacija “može pojačati osjećaj bezmjesnosti ili bez prostornosti koji digitalni mediji mogu potaknuti, ostavljajući dojam zajedništva umjesto razdvojenosti” te “učiniti poruke neposrednijima i osobnijima” (Baym 2015; Dragiewicz, et al., 2018:5). U kontekstu nasilnih veza, ova karakteristika digitalne komunikacije može eksponencijalno povećati nasilje.
Dragiewicz navodi kako „Zlostavljači koriste taktike koje uključuju, ali nisu ograničene na, fizičko i seksualno nasilje kako bi uhvatili partnere u zamku i na kraju ograničili njihovu slobodu” (Dragiewicz, et al., 2018:5). “Digitalni mediji zlostavljačima nude niz svakodnevnih opcija za učinkovitu kontrolu partnera. Neki od njih su tradicionalni oblici zlostavljanja, poput uhođenja i verbalnog zlostavljanja.
Međutim, dostupnost i neposrednost mobilnih, digitalnih i društvenih medija može rezultirati zlouporabom s većom lakoćom, korištenjem novih metoda i kanala” (Woodlock, 2017; Dragiewicz, et al., 2018:5).
Posljedično, zbog svih tih karakteristika digitalnog nasilja, žrtve su izvijestile kako se stalno osjećaju nesigurno i da nisu u stanju istinski pobjeći od zlostavljača bez obzira na fizičku lokaciju (Dimond, Fiesler i Bruckman 2011; Hand, Chung i Peters 2009; Harris 2016; Dragiewicz , et al., 2018:5).
Dakle, žrtva nije u mogućnosti pobjeći od nasilja od strane zlostavljača prostorno, ali ni vremenski.
Također ne mogu pobjeći od samog nasilja, jer je ono trajno prisutno u oblicima online sadržaja. Možemo izdvojiti pojmove koji karakteriziraju digitalno nasilje i time ću zaokružiti ovo izlaganje, a koji ga čine složenim i opasnim oblikom nasilja nad ženama te omogućuju stvaranje novog modusa nasilja, a to su:
• Trajnost
• Bezvremenost
• Bezmjesnost
• Pristupačnost
• Neposrednost
Nadamo se da će ovaj i naredni slični projekti pomoći u rješavanju problema digitalnog nasilja, prevenciji, prepoznavanju i sankcioniranju. I nadam se da su vam ova i sve druge analize dale više znanja ili više podataka o tome kako stati na kraj nasilju nad ženama i djevojčicama.
Hvala vam.
Katarina Križan
Kick-off Conference within the EU project “Raising awareness about gender-based cyber violence and advocating for a safer online environment for women and girls (bE- SAFE)”
Perpetuation of violence in the digital sphere
(Introduction)
We speak from the position of the organization that has a counselling centre for women victims of domestic and sexual violence, so cases of digital violence that we have encountered are related to violence against women in intimate partner relationships. Therefore, digital violence is a direct consequence and continuation of such violence. So we’re going to analyse it through that lens. We are glad that these problems are discussed, explored and analysed and that we get to participate in this important project.
The reason for this analysis and why it seemed so complex was our personal impression of such cases as particularly brutal and complex. Also, statistically we deal with a small number of cases, which is also a case in itself, and can indicate a problem of lack of awareness that manifests itself in not reporting and not recognizing digital violence as such.
In this panel we will present an analysis of one specific case that we have encountered in our organization and our main conclusions, which I will elaborate on a little later. Our analysis is characterized by the realization that digital violence against women is not only an extension of violence against women in offline space, but its repetition and most importantly an upgrade with key concepts of permanence, timelessness , placelessness, accessibility, and immediacy , and we will analyse those concepts through one case.
Without entering into too many details of the case respecting the privacy and protection of women victim of violence, we will say that it’s a case of threatening to publish intimate content online made by an ex-partner.
We are talking about several layers of violence here.
We have violence that occurs or has occurred through an intimate relationship, be it physical abuse, stalking, control and psychological abuse.
The second layer of violence occurs in the online sphere with threats to publish sexually explicit content online.
The third layer is the feeling of fear and shame from the publication of that same content or fear that intimate content will be published, while the fourth layer is the most important one, which is the permanence of the content.
Explicit videos, which in this case are used as an act of revenge for ending an intimate relationship, reach the online space in a few clicks, and remain there for a long time or forever. Which can further cause, and most likely will, the fifth layer, trauma and cyber harassment not only from an ex-partner but also from other men (and women) online and offline. The problem with reactions is that this act of publishing intimate video is
not seen as morally corrupt but as entertainment. So that’s why we cannot talk about digital violence without talking about violence against women in general.
Another concept that we point out is Timelessness signifies that such content remains visible and is written into the history and identity of a woman, the video “allows the event to continue to happen, and we would suggest that, because of the video, the event has not stopped happening” (Butler, 2007; Dodge, 2015:6). So the violence enters the continuum that is deeply damaging to women experiencing it. It also blurs the boundaries between public and private.
Social media have become almost omnipresent in everyday life as they have been embedded into mobile phones as apps, and they have become part of basic communications infrastructure of societies.
Digital communication “can enhance the sense of placelessness that digital media can encourage, making people feel more together when they are apart” and “make messages feel more immediate and personal” (Baym 2015; Dragiewicz, et al., 2018:5). In the context of abusive relationships, this characteristic can amplify the harms of abuse.
“Domestic violence abusers use tactics including, but not limited to, physical and sexual violence to entrap partners and ultimately limit their freedom” (Dragiewicz, et al., 2018:5). “Digital media offers abusers a variety of everyday options for effectively controlling partners. Some of these are traditional forms of abuse, like stalking and verbal abuse. However, the accessibility and immediacy of mobile, digital, and social media may result in abusing with greater ease, using new methods and channels” (Woodlock, 2017; Dragiewicz, et al., 2018:5).
Consequently, because of all those characteristics of digital violence, victims have reported feeling constantly unsafe, and unable to truly escape the abuser regardless of their physical location (Dimond, Fiesler and Bruckman 2011; Hand, Chung and Peters 2009; Harris 2016; Dragiewicz, et al., 2018:5). So the victim is not able to escape the violence by the abuser spatially, but also temporally.
They are also unable to escape the violence itself, because its permanently there in the forms of online content.
We can single out the concepts that characterize digitally violence and thus I will complete this presentation, which make it a complex and dangerous form of violence against women and allows the creation of a new modus of violence, which are:
- Permanence
- Timelessness
- Placelessness
- Accessibility
- Immediacy
We remain hopeful that this and the following similar projects will help solve the problem of digital violence, prevention, recognition and sanctioning. And I hope that this and all other analysis gave you more knowledge or more data on how to end violence against women and girls.
Thank you.
Katarina Križan
Domine
organizacija za promicanje ženskih prava
References
Ambrosi, Lucia, Papakristo, Paola and Polci, Valentina (2018). “Social Media and Gender Violence: Communication Strategies for a “New Education””, Italian Journal of sociology of education, 10 (2): 76-89,
http://ijse.padovauniversitypress.it/system/files/papers/2018_2_6.pdf (05.03.2023.)
Council of Europe (2021). „GREVIO General Recommendation No. 1 on the digital dimension of violence against women“
https://rm.coe.int/grevio-rec-no-on-digital-violence- against-women/1680a49147 (04.03.2023.)
Dodge, Alexa (2015). „Digitizing rape culture: Online sexual violence and the power of the digital photograph“ Crime Media Culture, 12(1):1-18,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282512495_Digitizing_rape_culture_Online_sexual_violence_and_the_power_of_the_digital_photograph (03.03.2023.)
Dragiewicz, Molly, Burgess, Jean, Matamoros-Fernandez, Ariadna, Salter, Michael, Suzor, Nicolas, Woodlock, Delanie, Harris, Bridget, (2018). „Technology facilitated coercive control: Domestic violence and the competing roles of digital media platforms“, Feminist Media Studies, 18(4): 609-625.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334440732_Technology- facilitated_Coercive_Control (04.03.2023.)
Ging, Debbie (2017). “Alphas, Betas, and Incels: Theorizing the Masculinities of the Manosphere”, Sage Journals, 1-20,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316845210_Alphas_Betas_and_Incels_Theorizing_t he_Masculinities_of_the_Manosphere (05.03.2023.)
Harris, Bridget, Vitis, Laura (2020). „Digital intrusions: Technology, spatiality and violence against women“, Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 4(3): 325-341,
https://eprints.qut.edu.au/204680/1/68389049.pdf (04.03.2023.)
Ryan Vickery, Jacqueline, Everbach,Tracy (2018.) Mediating Misogyny: Gender, Technology, and Harassment. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sen, Sudarshana (2020). „Reviewing Methods Studying Violence in Women’s ‘Everyday’“ Sociological Bulletin, 69(1): 83-94,
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/0038022919899019 (04.03.2023.)
Van der Wilk, Adriane (2021) „Protecting women and girls from violence in the digital age: The relevance of the Istanbul Convention and the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime in addressing online and technology-facilitated violence against women“, Council of Europe,
https://rm.coe.int/prems-153621-gbr-2574-study-online-a4-bat-web/1680a4cc44
(04.03.2023.)
Walby, Sylvia (2012). „Violence and society: Introduction to an emerging field of sociology“, Current Sociology, 61(2): 95–111,
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0011392112456478 (04.03.2023.)
