Background: What is Technology Based Violence?
Technology based violence is often overlooked when it comes to gender-based violence. When people think of gender-based violence what often comes to mind is direct contact violence such as physical and sexual abuse. However, with the emergence of technology new mechanisms have been developed to target victims. There exists four forms of technology-based violence i.e. doxing, flaming, cyberstalking, and revenge porn. Doxing is the act of publishing personal information/identification of someone without consent. Flaming involves posting derogatory/defamatory statements against someone online. Cyberstalking is the practice of using technology such as social media to stalk someone online. While revenge porn is the posting of explicit sexual imagery/videos without consent after a relationship has ended.
According to Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) some groups of women experience technology-based violence more often. The groups of women most targeted are 33% of females aged 15-24, 30% of Indigenous women and 50% of all bisexual women. Online violence can also manifest in well-known traditional signs of gender-based violence i.e. psychological, physical, sexual and economic. Psychological harm can manifest as depression or suicidal thoughts due to personal data being breached. While physical and sexual abuse can heighten from the spreading of personal information or explicit images. Lastly, economic abuse can occur from the sharing of personal data such as explicit imagery that make it hard for people to find work. This method can also manifest in the manner of withholding money through e-transfer or in sending abusive messages.
Women and Gender Equality Canada. (2024, May 3). Government of Canada. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/women-gender-equality/campaigns/gender-based-violence-its-not-just/infographic-online-just-words.html
Case Study
Stechyson, N. (2024, February 29). Abusers are using e-transfers to contact their victims. who is responsible for stopping them? | CBC News. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/e-transfer-abuse-1.7125623
Angie Sweeney a woman from Sault Ste. Marie who was murdered last October, was being abused economically prior to her death from her ex-boyfriend Bobbie Hallaert. The mode of abuse took place through the act of sending e-transfers. Despite the ex-boyfriend being blocked from all her social media and messaging applications he was still able to bypass all of that because within the e-transfer mechanism there exist a component to send messages along with money.
According to the United Nations Populations Fund, Technology Based Gender Violence (TBGV) is on the rise as at “least 38% of women globally have personally experienced online violence” (CBC, 2024). 2022 Statistics from Women’s Shelter Canada states that “more than 95 per cent of domestic violence shelters in Canada served women who experienced TBGV” (CBC, 2024).
Countries such as Australia serve as an example to Canada on how to address TBGV. Amidst the growing trend towards e-transfers being used as an abusive method to contact victims the country “cracked down by blocking certain transactions containing inappropriate or offensive language in real time” (CBC, 2024). Unfortunately, in Canada the onus is put on the victim to report to the banks of receiving abusive messages through e-transfer. In doing so, the banks are effectively removed from blame if something were to happen to the victim. The banks want to avoid being held criminally liable. As such the banks care more about the money in the client’s account but not the personal harm that is occurring through their institution. This in turn, sets up a system in which abuse thrives and goes undetected because of the trauma of the victim.
A new proposed bill to address online safety “imposes new responsibilities for online platforms, including social media sites, live streaming platforms and user-uploaded adult content” (CBC, 2024). Despite this initiative by the government to address a variety of outlets that TBGV can occur, it fails to specify targeting banks and the responsibilities pertaining to protecting the client from abusive transaction messages. Thus, the proposed bill fails to address the harm done by e-transfer messages which in turn allows perpetrators to bypass the restrictions in social media/messaging platforms.
Many women rely on e-transfers to receive money in the form of child support and according to Rhiannon Wong a Tech Safety Canada project manager states that “oftentimes people take abuse and harassment because they need that money to survive (CBC, 2024). Vulnerable women are willing to sacrifice their own sanity and safety for the sake of economic stability. The fear of reprisal from reporting abusive messaging can sadly outweigh one’s need for safety when money is at stake. Banks in Australia as of 2023 had “blocked 200,000 abusive transactions…using technology that searches for key words and phrases” (CBC,2024).
Canadian banks can learn to adopt a more proactive mechanism to ensure the safety of their clients who may be suffering from TGBV. However, this will not occur until the banking system in Canada values the lives of their clients and not just their money. As such, the death of Angie Sweeney could have been preventable if the banks had safeguards to intercept abusive messaging and report to the police.
By Tamayah Edwards
