Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Online Spaces and How We Can Make Them Safer

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a month dedicated to preventing and educating about sexual assault, harassment, and abuse.

This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the designation, which was first coordinated in 2001 by The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC).

According to the center, the goal of the month is to raise awareness about sexual violence, an “umbrella term that includes any type of unwanted sexual contact — either in person or online — including sexual assault, harassment, and abuse.”

It can include rape, unwanted sexual contact, nonconsensual image sharing, and sexual communication against a person’s will or without their consent.

This year’s theme centers on sexual violence that takes place online or virtually. This includes acts such as child pornography, revenge porn, sextortion, and other online harassments or crimes.

“As technology has evolved to become a part of our everyday lives, our awareness of how it can be used to bully, threaten and commit abuse has grown as well,” Yolanda Edrington, Executive Director of NSVRC, said in a statement.

According to a January study by the Pew Research Center, roughly four-in-10 Americans have experienced online harassment, with a growing number reporting “more severe online abuse such as sexual harassment or stalking.”

The research showed women are more likely than men to report having been sexually harassed online or stalked, with 33 percent of women under 35 saying they have been sexually harassed online.

The FBI also says sexual exploitation of children via online networks and enterprises has become an investigative priority.

This comes as the coronavirus pandemic forces many employees to work remotely and students to learn online more than ever.

“Students are more vulnerable to virtual sexual harassment, cyberstalking, and even the sharing of nonconsensual pornography (sometimes referred to as “revenge porn”) because it becomes easier for students to engage in this misconduct while hiding behind a computer screen,” Equal Rights Advocates reports.

In June, video conferencing platform Zoom was the subject of a class action lawsuit after a 400-person video conference was interrupted by child pornography. A church in California also filed a class action lawsuit over claims that a Bible study meeting on Zoom was interrupted by a hacker who displayed a disturbing video.

Other Zoom users have reported experiencing similar things in what has become known as “Zoombombing.” Zoom in December, however, filed a motion to dismiss several lawsuits filed against the company alleging privacy invasion or harm.

But online sexual harassment has been present long before the coronavirus pandemic and, in addition to state laws aimed at preventing things like revenge porn, there are legal avenues those who have been victimized can pursue.

In 2018, a federal appeals court sided with a group of students at the University of Mary Washington who sued the school for failing to protect them from sexist and sometimes threatening posts on the messaging app known as Yik Yak, the Washington Post reports.

The court reportedly wrote the school’s Title IX coordinator “simply advised the Feminists United members that the University was powerless to address the offending conduct” and ruled anonymous online threats are no different from other types of threats.

How can you prevent online sexual violence and what should you do if you witness it?

According to NSVRC, inappropriate, sensitive, or violent content on social media platforms, should be reported to the platform it was shared on so it can be flagged or removed. Each platform has its own guidelines for addressing such content.

The group also advises speaking out against harmful comments, particularly those that blame victims. You can also support victims by checking in with them individually.

“Leaders can take steps to secure their online spaces from outside threats, implement policies that promote equality and respect, take reports of harassment or abuse seriously, and hold those responsible accountable,” NSVRC states.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.