Addressing technology enabled violence against women and girls in the digital age

Internet-enabled technology can be empowering for victims of domestic violence, by providing them with education, information and expanded networks of social support, technology use can also become a source of vulnerability for women and girls. Instead of being empowered by technology, some women are being driven away from women’s refuge in Canberra, cited in Francis, 2015. it by the rise of both cyber misogyny and digital domestic violence. When female victims are pushed offline their ability to participate effectively in a digital society and economy is severely undermined and women as a group are further excluded from positions of influence in the public sphere. Increasingly, enabling women and girls to take control of their ‘real’ lives and relationships, requires encouraging them to take control of their digital lives and relationships, through mastering new communication technologies in cultural and political contexts