On Safer Internet Day, 8th February 2022, The Observatory on Cyberbullying, Cyberhate and Online Harassment launched the first annual report “The Gendered Experiences of Image-based Sexual Abuse: State of the Research and Evidence-Based Recommendations”.
Following the enactment of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act (Coco’s Law), which criminalises recording, distribution, publishing, or threatening to publish intimate images without consent, the Observatory has focused on providing an overview of the state of the research into image-based sexual abuse. This concept covers a broad variety of abusive experiences, including creating, sharing and threatening to share sexual images without consent, sending unwanted sexual images, and unwanted solicitation for sexual images.
The report provides an overview of facets, prevalence and legislation on image-based sexual abuse in Ireland and internationally while specifically focusing on the gendered aspect of these experiences. Pointing to the ways in which norms about gender and sexuality dictate the way this behaviour is experiences differently for males and females, the report also notes that the consequences of being the target of image-based sexual abuse differ significantly based on gender as well as sexuality.
This report concludes that while legislation and criminal justice is significant for regulating and penalising image-based sexual abuse, it is crucial to introduce education and prevention programs in order to fully address the issue. The report recommends securing proper emotional, psychological and legal supports for those who have been harmed and wish to seek help or report the abuse. Most significantly, the report refers to research-based evidence that teaching consent and training school staff in the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) lessons in schools is crucial for preventing image-based sexual abuse.
