Perpetrators of domestic and family violence are increasingly using advancements in
communication and surveillance technologies to extend their abuse tactics. Concern is growing
particularly about how technologies enable and amplify the coercive controlling behaviours of
abusive partners and how prepared frontline workers and support services are to assist people
experiencing this form of abuse to achieve safety and justice. This study draws on in-depth
interviews with victim‑survivors of technology-facilitated coercive control and with frontline
and other support service workers who support victim‑survivors, and on workshops with
domestic and family violence sector stakeholders, to examine pathways to safety and justice for
victim‑survivors. The analysis identifies gaps, limitations and opportunities for improvement in
responses to victim‑survivors of this rapidly developing form of domestic and family violence. It
presents recommendations directly relevant to policy and practice.
Most victim‑survivors and workers interviewed reported significant gaps and areas for
improvement in justice and support services. One considerable gap is a lack of understanding
of technology-facilitated coercive control among frontline workers, including police, and in
the community more broadly. This means that victim‑survivors do not always recognise that
what is happening to them is a form of domestic and family violence. When victim‑survivors
do realise that what is occurring is dangerous, police frequently view their reports as isolated
incidents, rather than as patterns of behaviour, and diminish or dismiss them, overlooking the
risks to women and children. Another significant gap in domestic and family violence services is
a lack of funding for specialist suppliers to conduct technology safety scans, with some services
relying on local telecommunications stores or students to check devices.
The findings indicate an urgent need for funding for domestic and family violence services,
to enable them to provide women and children at risk with technology safety scans and
wraparound support. There is an equally urgent need to address the lack of understanding of
technology-facilitated coercive control, and the risks associated with patterns of abusive and
controlling behaviours generally, particularly within the criminal justice system.
References
URLs correct as at April 2024
Afrouz R 2021. The nature, patterns and consequences of technology-facilitated domestic abuse: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 24(2): 913–927. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211046752
Anderson KL 2009. Gendering coercive control. Violence Against Women 15(12): 1444–1457. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801209346837
ANROWS 2021. Defining and responding to coercive control: Policy brief (01/2021 ANROWS Insights). Sydney: ANROWS. https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/defining-and-responding-to-coercive-control/
Bates S 2017. Revenge porn and mental health: A qualitative analysis of the mental health effects of revenge porn on female survivors. Feminist Criminology 12(1): 22–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085116654565
Boxall H & Morgan A 2021. Intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey of women in Australia (Research report 03/2021). Sydney: ANROWS. https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/intimate-partner-violence-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-a-survey-of-women-in-australia/
Boxall H, Morgan A & Brown R 2020. The prevalence of domestic violence among women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical Bulletin no. 28. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.52922/sb04718
Burgess-Proctor A 2015. Methodological and ethical issues in feminist research with abused women: Reflections on participants’ vulnerability and empowerment. Women’s Studies International Forum 48: 124–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2014.10.014
Burgin R & Flynn A 2021. Women’s behavior as implied consent: Male ‘reasonableness’ in Australian rape law. Criminology & Criminal Justice 21(3): 334–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895819880953
Burton S, Tanczer L, Vasudevan S & Carr M 2021. The UK Code of Practice for Consumer IoT Cybersecurity: Where we are and what next. London: PETRAS IoT Hub, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)
Buxton-Namisnyk E, Gibson A & MacGillivray P 2022. Unintended but not unanticipated: Coercive control laws will disadvantage First Nations women. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/unintended-but-not-unanticipated-coercive-control-laws-will-disadvantage-first-nations-women-188285
Cuomo D & Dolci N 2021. New tools, old abuse: Technology-enabled coercive control (TECC). Geoforum 126: 224–232
Damajanovic D 2017. Abusive partners stalking women with tracking devices in toys, prams. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-07/domestic-violence-perpetrators-using-technology-to-track-victims/8572944
Department of Social Services 2022. National plan to end violence against women and children 2022–2032. https://www.dss.gov.au/ending-violence
Douglas H, Harris BA & Dragiewicz M 2019. Technology-facilitated domestic and family violence: Women’s experiences. British Journal of Criminology 59(3): 551–570. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azy068
Douglas H, Tanzer L, McLachlan F & Harris B 2023. Policing technology-facilitated domestic abuse (TFDA): Views of service providers in Australia and the United Kingdom. Journal of Family Violence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00619-2
Dragiewicz M et al. 2019. Domestic violence and communication technology: Survivor experiences of intrusion, surveillance, and identity crime. Queensland: Australian Communications Consumer Action Network. https://accan.org.au/grants/completed-grants/1429-domestic-violence-and-communication-technology-victim-experiences-of-intrusion-surveillance-and-identity-theft
Dragiewicz M et al. 2018. Technology-facilitated coercive control: Domestic violence and the competing roles of digital media platforms. Feminist Media Studies 18(4): 609–625. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447341
Flynn A 2023. Image-based sexual abuse. In H Pontell (ed), Oxford research of criminology and criminal justice, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 1–24
Flynn A 2016. Plea-negotiations, prosecutors and discretion: An argument for legal reform. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 49(4): 564–582. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004865815589823
Flynn A 2012. Bargaining with justice: Victims, plea bargaining and the Victims’ Charter Act 2006 (Vic). Monash University Law Review 37(3): 73–96
Flynn A, Cama E, Powell A & Scott AJ 2023. Victim-blaming and image-based sexual abuse. Journal of Criminology 56(1): 7–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/26338076221135327
Flynn A & Freiberg A 2018. Plea negotiations: Pragmatic justice in an imperfect world. New York: Springer
Flynn A, Hindes S & Powell A 2022. Technology-facilitated abuse: Interviews with victims and survivors and perpetrators. Research Report 11/2022. Sydney: ANROWS. https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/technology-facilitated-abuse-interviews-with-victims-and-survivors-and-perpetrators/
Flynn A, Powell A & Hindes S 2023a. An intersectional analysis of technology-facilitated abuse: Prevalence, experiences and impacts of victimization. British Journal of Criminology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azad044
Flynn A, Powell A & Hindes S 2023b. Policing technology-facilitated abuse. Policing & Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2022.2159400
Flynn A, Powell A & Hindes S 2021. Technology-facilitated abuse: A survey of support services stakeholders. Research report 02/2021. Sydney: ANROWS. https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/technology-facilitated-abuse-a-survey-of-support-services-stakeholders/
Flynn A, Powell A, Scott AJ & Cama E 2022. Deepfakes and digitally altered imagery abuse: A cross-country exploration of an emerging form of image-based sexual abuse. British Journal of Criminology 62(6): 1341–1358. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azab111
Freiberg A & Flynn A 2021. Victims and plea negotiations: Overlooked and unimpressed. Basingstoke: Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61383-9
Gendera S, Valentine K & Breckenridge J 2021. The significance of technology as both a resource in enhancing safety, and a means of perpetrating violence: The implications for policy and practice. Journal of Gender-Based Violence 5(3): 413–429. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16255656776492
Grieve C 2020. We can see you: CBA to ban customers that send abusive messages. Sydney Morning Herald, 4 June. https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/we-can-see-you-cba-to-ban-customers-that-send-abusive-messages-20200604-p54zla.html
Hamberger LK, Larsen SE & Lehrner A 2017. Coercive control in intimate partner violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior 37: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2017.08.003
Harkin D 2019. Regulating private sector security provision for victims of domestic violence. Theoretical Criminology 23(3): 415–432. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480617737760
Harkin D & Molnar A 2021. Operating-system design and its implications for victims of family violence: The comparative threat of smart phone spyware for Android versus iPhone users. Violence Against Women 27(6–7): 851–875. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220923731
Harris BA 2018. Spacelessness, spatiality and intimate partner violence. In K Fitz-Gibbon, S Walklate, J McCulloch & J Maher (eds), Intimate partner violence, risk and security: Securing women’s lives in a global world. London: Routledge: 52–70. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315204765-4
Harris BA & Woodlock D 2022. ‘You can’t actually escape it’: Policing the use of technology in domestic violence in rural Australia. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy 11(1): 135–148. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.2190
Harris BA & Woodlock D 2019. Digital coercive control: Insights from two landmark domestic violence studies. British Journal of Criminology 59(3): 530–550. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azy052
Harvard TE & Lefevre M 2021. Coercive control and technology-facilitated parental stalking in children’s and young people’s lives. Journal of Gender-Based Violence 5(3): 223–239. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16285243258834
Henry N, Flynn A & Powell A 2020. Technology-facilitated domestic and sexual violence: A review. Violence Against Women 15–16: 1828–1854. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801219875821
Henry N, Flynn A & Powell A 2018. Policing image-based sexual abuse: Stakeholder perspectives. Police Practice and Research 19(6): 565–581. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2018.1507892
Henry N et al. 2020. Image-based sexual abuse: A study on the causes and consequences of non-consensual nude or sexual imagery. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351135153
Henry N, Vasil S, Flynn A, Kellard K & Mortreux C 2022. Technology-facilitated violence against immigrant and refugee women: A qualitative study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 37(13–14): 12634–12660. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211001465
Herman JL 2005. Justice from the victim’s perspective. Violence Against Women 11(5): 571–602. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801205274450
Iliadis M & Flynn A 2018. Providing a check on prosecutorial decision-making: An analysis of the victims’ right to review reform. British Journal of Criminology 58(3): 550–568. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azx036
Kranz AL & Nakamura K 2002. Helpful or Harmful? How innovative communication technology affects survivors of intimate violence. Minnesota: Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse: 1–12
McGlynn C et al. 2021. ‘It’s torture for the soul’: The harms of image-based sexual abuse. Social & Legal Studies 30(4): 541–562. https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663920947791
Morgan A & Boxall H 2020. Social isolation, time spent at home, financial stress and domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 609. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.52922/ti04855
Orth U 2002. Secondary victimization of crime victims by criminal proceedings. Social Justice Research 15(4): 313–325. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021210323461
Patel U & Roesch R 2022. The prevalence of technology-facilitated sexual violence: A meta-analysis and systematic review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse 23(2): 428–443. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020958057
Pfitzner N, Fitz-Gibbon K & Meyer S 2022. Responding to women experiencing domestic and family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring experiences and impacts of remote service delivery in Australia. Child & Family Social Work 27(1): 30–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12870
Pfitzner N, Fitz-Gibbon K & True J 2022. When staying home isn’t safe: Australian practitioner experiences of responding to intimate partner violence during COVID-19 restrictions. Journal of Gender-Based Violence 6(2): 297–314. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16420024310873
Pfitzner N, Fitz-Gibbon K & True J 2020. Responding to the ‘shadow pandemic’: Practitioner views on the nature of and responses to violence against women in Victoria, Australia during the COVID-19 restrictions. Melbourne: Monash University. https://doi.org/10/26180/5ed9d5198497c
Pina A, Storey JE, Duggan M & Franqueira VNL 2021. Technology-facilitated intimate partner violence: A multidisciplinary examination of prevalence, methods used by perpetrators and the impact of COVID-19. London: Home Office. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/95001/
Powell A & Flynn A 2023. Technology-facilitated abuse victimization: A gendered analysis in a representative survey of adults. Feminist Criminology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/15570851231196548
Powell A, Flynn A & Hindes S 2022. Technology-facilitated abuse: National survey of Australian adults’ experiences (Research report 12/2022). Sydney: ANROWS. https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/technology-facilitated-abuse-national-survey-of-australian-adults-experiences/
Powell A, Flynn A, Wheildon L & Bentley K 2024. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on responses to technology-facilitated intimate partner violence. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 698. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.52922/ti77505
Powell A & Henry N 2019. Technology-facilitated sexual violence victimization: Results from an online survey of Australian adults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 34(17): 3637–3665. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516672055
Showalter K 2016. Women’s employment and domestic violence: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behaviour 31: 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.06.017
Snaychuk LA & O’Neill ML 2020. Technology-facilitated sexual violence: Prevalence, risk, and resiliency in undergraduate students. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 29(8): 984–999. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2019.1710636
Southworth C 2003. Technology’s dark side. The Washington Post
Southworth C, Dawson S, Fraser C & Tucker S 2005. A high-tech twist on abuse: Technology, intimate partner stalking, and advocacy. Harrisburg, PA: Violence Against Women Online Resources, National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. https://vawnet.org/material/high-tech-twist-abuse-technology-intimate-partner-stalking-and-advocacy
Stark E 2012. Looking beyond domestic violence: Policing coercive control. Journal of police crisis negotiations 12(2): 199–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332586.2012.725016
Stark E 2007. Coercive control: The entrapment of women in personal life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195154276.001.0001
Tanczer LM, López-Neira I & Parkin S 2021. ‘I feel like we’re really behind the game’: Perspectives of the United Kingdom’s intimate partner violence support sector on the rise of technology-facilitated abuse. Journal of Gender-Based Violence 5(3): 431–450. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16290304343529
Wheildon L, Flynn, A, True J & Wild A 2023. Gender-based violence policy reform: Assessing the risks and public value of co-production with survivors. Journal of Gender-Based Violence 7(3): 450–466. https://doi.org/10.1332/239868021X16842395248135
Wheildon L, True J, Flynn A & Wild A 2022. The Batty effect: Victim-survivors and domestic and family violence policy change. Violence Against Women 28(6-7): 1684–1707. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012211024266
Woodlock D 2017. The abuse of technology in domestic violence and stalking. Violence Against Women 23(5): 584–602. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801216646277
Woodlock D et al. 2020a. Second national survey of technology abuse and domestic violence in Australia. Melbourne: WESNET. https://wesnet.org.au/about/research/2ndnatsurvey/
Woodlock D, McKenzie M, Western D & Harris B 2020b. Technology as a weapon in domestic violence: Responding to digital coercive control. Australian social work 73(3): 368–380. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2019.1607510
Yardley E 2021. Technology-facilitated domestic abuse in political economy: A new theoretical framework. Violence Against Women 27(10): 1479–1498. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220947172