Women’s Aid calls for government to take action on online abuse.

Three in ten women have been stalked or harassed online through email and social media platforms, including Facebook, according to a poll by Women’s Aid, the national domestic violence charity.

And much of the abuse is directed from current and ex-partners, who use online platforms to track their partner or ex’s movements, or to check up on them.

Around 23 per cent of women have received abusive emails, 22 per cent have received abusive private messages through Facebook and 14 per cent were subjected to abusive public posts on Facebook.

When asked about specific forms of online abuse, as many as four in ten women reported being at the receiving end of some form of cyber abuse by a partner or ex-partner, and 37 per cent reported feeling threatened by how a partner or ex-partner had treated them or behaved online.

Claire, who was physically, emotionally, sexually and psychologically abused by her husband throughout their eight-year relationship, said: “E-mail, social media and smartphones gave him total control over all aspects of my life when I was with him.

“It gave him a sounding board to hundreds and hundreds of people to spread malicious lies and untruths in order to destroy my future when I left.

“It gave him ways to know about my life he couldn’t have otherwise and I felt for at least 18 months that I had absolutely no escape.

“The constant hounding through so many different mediums and the total lack of privacy or being able to shake him off compounded the fear and made me feel that I would never, ever be free.”

The results of the online poll have been released in conjunction with a Women’s Aid report into online abuse, harassment and stalking which is highly critical of the way online stalking and harassment is currently handled by companies and the government.

Women’s Aid is calling for the government to ensure sufficient resources are available for specialist support services to be able to meet the needs of women experiencing violence, including online abuse, stalking and harassment.

It is also calling for social media providers to remove perpetrators from their platforms and to create easier reporting and blocking mechanisms to safeguard victims of online abuse.

Finally, it is calling for guidance and training for all professionals in criminal justice agencies, including the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, and the need to recognise online abuse, harassment and stalking as part of the spectrum of violence against women.

To read the report, click here.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Women’s Aid, said: “Anonymous messages on Valentine’s Day are generally considered romantic, but for women facing online stalking and harassment, anonymous messages can be deeply disturbing.

“Today’s report details the significant failings of the Government, social media providers, and the criminal justice system to keep pace with the ingenuity of criminals intent on intimidating and controlling women online.

“The accompanying poll reveals that online stalking and harassment of women is linked to much older forms of violence, including domestic violence.

“It is vital,” she continued, “that prompt action is taken to address the causes of both online and offline violence against women, as we work to eradicate new forms of abuse enabled by online technologies.”

Stalking through social media sites and email doesn’t conjure up the stereotypical image of a stranger lurking in the shadows, but the reality is that most victims know their perpetrator, and just because they are not physically present, it doesn’t make the behaviour any less intimidating or controlling – in fact, it’s a way of extending their control.

As Women’s Views on News reportedrecently, in as many as 40 per cent of domestic violence cases that end in murder, the victim was stalked; the internet had just given the perpetrators another way to target their victims.

Online abuse should be taken just as seriously as offline harassment.