Anastasia Powell

Communications technologies have unequivocally transformed contemporary social life with profound effects for information exchange, social interaction, democratic participation and even emancipatory social change. Networks of mobile and online communications provide a tantalising array of opportunities to connect within an ever-expanding global community, in turn enabling unparalleled freedoms, blurring traditional boundaries between public and private life. And yet there is a dark side to the so-called ‘virtual’ world – a world that has also become a breeding ground for sexual and gender-based violence, harassment and abuse.

This book investigates the sordid underbelly of the internet: technology-facilitated sexual assault, internet misogyny, online harassment, ‘revenge porn’, cyberstalking, as well as online sexuality- and gender-based hate speech. Drawing on world-first research into the nature and prevalence of technology-facilitated forms of sexual violence and harassment, we explore the reach of these harms, the experiences of victims, the views of service providers and law enforcement bodies, as well as the implications for law, justice and resistance in a digital age.

This book explores the burgeoning interest in alternative and innovative justice responses to sexual violence both within and outside the legal system. It explores the limits of criminal law for achieving 'rape justice' and highlights possibilities for expanding how we think about justice in the aftermath of sexual violence.

Globally, rates of sexual violence remain unacceptably high, with disproportionate effects on women and girls. While most scholars and practitioners uniformly concur about the scope of the problem, there is currently little agreement about how to prevent sexual violence before it occurs.

Drawing on diverse disciplines such as criminology, education, health promotion, law, psychology, social work, socio-legal studies, sociology and women's studies, this book provides the first interdisciplinary collection on the primary prevention of sexual violence. The volume addresses the key causes or determinants of sexual violence, including cultural attitudes, values, beliefs and norms, as well as systemic gender-based inequalities that create the conditions underlying much violence against women. Including contributions from internationally renowned experts in the field, the volume critically investigates the theoretical underpinnings of prevention work, describing and analysing the limits and possibilities of primary prevention strategies 'on the ground'. The chapters collectively examine the role that structural violence and gender inequality play in fostering a 'culture' of sexual violence, and reflect on the relationship between macro and micro levels for understanding both sexual violence perpetration and prevention.

This book will be a key resource for scholars, practitioners and policymakers involved in the fields of sexual violence prevention, education, law, family violence, and child sexual abuse.

Including contributions from Victoria L. Banyard (University of New Hampshire, USA), Alison Cares (Assumption College, USA), Moira Carmody (University of Western Sydney, Australia), Gillian Fletcher (La Trobe Univeristy, Australia), Wendy Larcombe (University of Melbourne, Australia), Claire Maxwell (University of London, UK), Mary M. Moynihan (University of New Hampshire, USA), Bob Pease (Deakin University, Australia) and Antonia Quadara (Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australia).

The opportunities afforded through digital and communications technologies, in particular social media, have inspired a diverse range of interdisciplinary perspectives exploring how such advancements influence the way we live. Rather than positioning technology as existing in a separate space to society more broadly, the 'digital society' is a concept that recognises such technologies as an embedded part of the larger social entity and acknowledges the incorporation of digital technologies, media, and networks in our everyday lives (Lupton 2014), including in crime perpetration, victimisation and justice. In this article, we explore potential for an interdisciplinary concept of digital society to expand and inspire innovative crime and justice scholarship within an emerging field of 'digital criminology'.

Considerable scholarly attention has been paid to a range of criminal behaviours that are perpetrated with the aid of digital technologies. Much of this focus, however, has been on high-tech computer crimes, such as hacking, online fraud and identity theft, or child exploitation material and cyberbullying. Less attention has been paid to ‘technology-facilitated sexual violence’, where new technologies are used as tools to perpetrate or extend the harm of a sexual assault, extend control and abuse in a domestic violence situation, or distribute sexual or intimate images of another without their consent. In this article, we focus on the scope and limitations of criminal legislation for responding to these varied but interconnected gendered harms. We argue that although there have been some developments in a range of international jurisdictions, particularly relating to the phenomenon of ‘revenge pornography’, much more needs to be done both within and beyond the law. Whilst we support the intervention of the criminal law, we argue that equal attention must be given to policies and practices of educators, law enforcement agencies, service providers, online communities and social media networks to fulfil the promise of equal and ethical digital citizenship.

Communications technologies are being used in varying ways to perpetrate and extend the harm of sexual violence and harassment against women and girls. Yet little scholarship has explored the uses of communications technologies, to support reporting, investigation and prosecution of sexual assault, nor indeed less formal mechanisms of justice. In this article, I contend that communications technologies are not simply new tools for conventional formal justice, but rather that these technologies are mediating new mechanisms of informal justice outside of the State, in turn challenging meanings of justice in Western liberal democracies. In so doing I employ concepts of technosocial practices operating in counterpublic online spaces, to explore the potential (and limits) of communications technologies as mediators of rape justice.

Young people's use of technology as a tool for the negotiation of their sexual identities and encounters has increasingly become a focal point in popular and scholarly discussion. Much of this debate centres on the sending of explicit sexual images and/or video (‘selfies’ or ‘sexting’) by mobile phone, email or social media. In Australia and elsewhere, legislative frameworks have arguably over-regulated or criminalised young people's consensual, digital, sexual communications. Equally, the law has failed to respond to the harm that is experienced by victims of non-consensual making and/or distribution of such sexual images. In this paper, we examine the non-consensual creation and distribution of sexual images in the context of harassment, stalking and family or intimate violence. We argue that harmful digital communications are often framed as a problem of user naiveté rather than gender-based violence. Moreover, we argue that current legal and policy approaches fail to adequately capture the social and psychological harm that results from the use of sexual imagery to harass, coerce or blackmail women. We draw on preliminary data from a larger project investigating adult women's experiences of technology-mediated sexual violence and harassment.

The emerging phenomenon of youth ‘sexting’ presents a range of unique legal, policy and educative challenges. In this article we consider four key issues in recent responses to youth sexting behaviours: (1) the definitional dilemmas surrounding the term ‘sexting’; (2) the inadequacy of existing legislative frameworks for responding to these behaviours; (3) the problematic messages conveyed in anti-sexting campaigns; and (4) the relative silence around gender-based violence in non-consensual and abusive encounters. We argue that the non-consensual creation and distribution of sexual images has largely been framed in public debates as a problem of youth naiveté, with the effect of censuring young women's ‘risky’ sexual behaviour, and leaving unproblematised gender-based violence. We suggest that more nuanced understandings of sexting that distinguishes between the consensual and non-consensual creation and distribution of sexual images must inform legal, policy and education-based prevention responses to the misuse of new technologies.

Criminality in cyberspace has been the subject of much debate since the 1990s, yet, comparatively little attention has been paid to technology facilitated sexual violence and harassment (TFSV). The aim of the paper is to explore the ways in which retraditionalized gender hierarchies and inequalities are manifested in online contexts, and to conceptualize the cause and effects of TFSV as “embodied harms.” We argue that problematic mind/body and online/offline dualisms result in a failure to grasp the unique nature of embodied harms, precluding an adequate understanding and theorization of TFSV in cyberspace.

Bystander action is often promoted as an effective way of engaging non-violent men in challenging violence against women in their peer groups and communities. While there is much international research literature examining the barriers and facilitators to bystander action, and several program models well evaluated in the United States, bystander approaches for responding to and preventing sexual violence against women are far less developed in Australia. Australian research, policy and programs are increasingly focused on harnessing bystander action as part of a holistic plan to address and prevent violence against women, including sexual violence. Yet there are some unresolved challenges and issues in their implementation.

Contemporary teens and young adults, often collectively referred to as the .NET generation or the ‘digital generation’, represent the largest proportion of end-users in the information and communication technologies market (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2007; Australian Communications and Media Authority [ACMA], 2007, 2008). While there is much written concerning the rise in pornographic and other sexual material via the internet and mobile phones there is comparatively little published work regarding the use of information and communication technologies for the distribution of unauthorised sexual images, more particularly, where a sexual assault has occurred. This article considers the issues raised by the use of information and communication technologies in sexual violence and the distribution of unauthorised sexual images. The implications of this emerging issue are considered in light of existing and potential legislative frameworks.

The intersection of public policy and legislation addressing children and domestic violence is fraught with complexity. Domestic violence responses, child protection responses and family law responses, all potentially collide where a child witnesses or experiences domestic violence. These responses not only operate with different purposes and assumptions, but also construct the problem of domestic violence in different ways. This article is based on the preliminary findings of a larger research project exploring the history of domestic violence policy in Australia. Drawing on Bacchi's (1999) `what's the problem represented to be?' approach we consider how children's experiences of domestic violence are named and framed in Australian and New Zealand law and policy. In identifying and making apparent these particular understandings, and considering the implications of these meanings for current responses, we seek to open up debates on the future direction of domestic violence policy and legislation concerned with children.

In recent years, the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has sparked the interest of some feminist sociologists who, in response to a perceived cultural determinism of the postmodern turn, are seeking theoretical space to consider women's and men's agency within a changeable, albeit constrained, world of gender relations. This article draws upon the voices of young women and men (aged 14—24) talking about their perceptions and experiences of love/sex relationships. It explores the potential for an adaptation of Bourdieu's central concepts of habitus and symbolic violence, to understand the interplay of structure and agency in young people's negotiations of (hetero)sexual encounters. Finally, the implications of this analysis for young people's relationships and for the prevention of sexual coercion will be considered.

Adults with a disability can face particular barriers to disclosure of sexual assault and the responses to those who disclose are often inadequate. enabling disclosure and providing the most appropriate responses across public policy, the criminal justice system and the service sector require further and urgent attention. this issues paper, drawing on international literature as well as consultations with staff of a number of australian programs, provides clear directions for future research and practice in responding to and preventing sexual assault among adults with a disability.

The campaign of feminists to have domestic violence formally acknowledged as a key issue affecting Australian women succeeded in the early 1980s when governments began developing policy seeking to address the problem. Far from simply adopting feminist gendered understandings of domestic violence, however, the development of contemporary policy responses to this issue has been influenced by a number of competing discourses about the problem, its causes, and possible solutions. Drawing on Bacchi's policy analysis approach, the authors compare the discursive constructions of domestic violence inherent in how the issue is named, framed, and defined across contemporary Australian policy documents.

In Australia, there is a growing expectation that sexuality education should reduce the risks associated with youth sex by providing young people with information on protecting their sexual health. However, this information may be insufficient to ensure that young people make choices that support their sexual safety and autonomy. This paper considers the adverse implications of the problematisation of youth sexuality for young people's sexual health and autonomy. it draws on interview and focus group data from 117 young people to explore the varying degrees of opportunity that youth have to actively negotiate and promote safe and consensual sex. Finally, implications for sexuality education and violence prevention are briefly considered.

Interview on ABC News24 about key findings from the National Community Attitudes to Violence Against Women Survey, by VicHealth. Full report available here: http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/Publications/Freedom-from-violence/2013-National-Community-Attitudes-towards-Violence-Against-Women-Survey.aspx

This is an audio-recording of a presentation I gave in April 2014 at Language, Diversity and Global Security Conference at RMIT University, Melbourne, titled "Hate Speech in the Digital Age: Implications for Democracy, Participation and Censorship".

This is an audio-recording of a presentation I gave in October 2013 at the Australia and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference, titled: "Seeking Rape Justice: The use of communications technologies in legal and non-legal responses to sexual assault".