New EU project on how digital technologies are being used for gender-based violence

Thomas Wimark, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Human Geography, is participating in the EU project Tracking and Countering Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence through Evidence-based Approaches across the Conflict–Refuge Continuum in Europe (TRACE), which is being coordinated at the University of Birmingham.

What will you be doing in the project?
“We will be focusing on technology-facilitated gender-based violence or TF-GBV – i.e. situations where digital technologies are used to facilitate or amplify violence against women. We have seen that this type of violence is increasing sharply in conflict and refugee contexts, where digital platforms create opportunities for cross-border, anonymous, and long-term abuse. Research and reports clearly show that women refugees are particularly affected.

“There are multiple recent examples of this. For example, ISIS used encrypted apps to control and sell Yazidi women and girls. In Ukraine, images and videos of sexual violence against Ukrainian women are spread on platforms such as Telegram. This type of case illustrates how technology today can amplify and prolong this violence – often far beyond the physical event.

“Despite the fact that the phenomenon is well known, there is no data nor systematic analyses showing what types of TF-GBV occur and how these types are connected to each other along the entire displacement continuum. This is the gap our project aims to fill.”

Which parts will Uppsala University be handling in the project?
“Our role in the project is to systematically review and analyse a large number of asylum decisions in order to investigate quantitatively how common TF-GBV is among women seeking asylum in Sweden. This project is unique in the world, as there is currently no representative data that shows the extent of this type of violence. I will be leading this work at the Department of Human Geography.

“In addition to this, my colleague, Aleksandra Lebedeva at the National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women, will conduct interviews with representatives from refugee organisations as well as survivors of gender-based violence. The aim is to gain a deeper understanding of how technologies are being used to target, harm, and control women in conflict and refuge settings.”

What do you hope to achieve?
“I hope that through the project we can make visible the extent of TF-GBV and thereby get this issue higher up on the political and public debate agendas. When we can demonstrate how widespread and systematic it is, we will also be creating better conditions for preventing and stopping it.

“But we also want to make very clear the extent of all the different forms that TF-GBV can take. By making this visible, we can increase understanding in society and improve support for all women who are exposed to it, whether they have fled their country or fled their home.”

Anders Berndt