May 8, 2015 [CYBER SELF-DEFENSE PROJECT]
Cyber Self-Defense Research Report
CYBER SELF-DEFENSE PROJECT REPORT
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Executive Summary
This report provides a summary and analysis of the research findings from Year One of the
Cyber Self-Defense Project research study. This was a two year initiative funded through Status
of Women Canada, conducted in partnership with METRAC, East Metro Youth Services
(EMYS) and St. Stephen’s Community House Youth Services. This participatory action research
project utilized 288 surveys and six focus groups with girls and young women across Toronto to
uncover trends with regard to experiences of cyber violence and cyber sexual violence and to
examine possible methods of addressing such issues by service providers. Collected data is
available in the report (pp. 6-13). The research uncovered that while the majority of young
women felt a sense of safety online, they also felt that violence and harassment of women online
is quite common. As well, perceived risk factors for victimization online were highly
individualized, such as low self-esteem and personal appearance.
This report concluded that young women are not connecting their experiences of victimization
and violence with issues connected to the internet or larger systemic factors. We found that
issues of desensitization and victim blaming were still major issues despite some young people
reporting an understanding of gendered double standards and the high frequency of common
experiences between young women. Based on these findings, our recommendations for further
inquiry
include:



Working with young women and young men together to address gendered attitudes that
contribute to systemic violence
Treating young women as the experts in their experiences and using this expert
knowledge to educate service providers
Working with schools, social service providers, the criminal justice system and social
media providers to improve safety and prevention methods for sexual cyber violence
This report and research has several limitations, including a lack of representation of Aboriginal
Peoples. In addition, due to the use of a participatory action research team, time and scheduling
conflicts may have impacted elements of the research. Finally, we have discussed that the
phrasing of certain questions, for example “where should someone report sexual cyber
violence?” versus “where would you report sexual cyber violence?” may have impacted the
nature of some answers.
CYBER SELF-DEFENSE PROJECT REPORT
Table of Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4
Initial Process ...................................................................................................................... 4
Method ................................................................................................................................ 5
Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 5
Research Findings ............................................................................................................. 6
Demographics ..................................................................................................................... 6
Use of Internet..................................................................................................................... 8
Safe vs. Unsafe Sites and Apps........................................................................................... 9
Perceived Online Safety.................................................................................................... 10
Perceived Experiences of Sexual Cyber-Violence ........................................................... 10
Reporting of Incidents....................................................................................................... 13
Perceived Risk Factors of Being Targeted Online ............................................................ 13
Discussion......................................................................................................................... 14
Desensitization .................................................................................................................. 14
Slut-Shaming and Victim Blaming ................................................................................... 15
Impacts of Cyber-Violence Offline .................................................................................. 16
The Role of Social Service Workers ................................................................................. 16
Glossary of Terms………………………………………………………………….17
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………..18
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Introduction
The Cyber Self-Defense Research Project is a peer-led, citywide needs-assessment on sexual
cyber-violence experienced by girls and young women1. The project is a collaboration between
East Metro Youth Services, specializing in human trafficking and sexual exploitation trauma
treatment; St. Stephen’s Community House, specializing in youth engagement and youth-led
initiatives; and METRAC, specializing in ending violence against women and youth individually
and systemically; and is funded by the Status of Women, Canada. With varied backgrounds in
services and areas of interest, each agency involved in the research brought a specific knowledge
of different populations in our city – extending the reach of our research to speak to many
members of the Toronto community.
The participatory action research team – Webbing With Wisdom – administered 288 surveys and
conducted 6 focus groups with young women and girls across the GTA to better understand their
knowledge and experiences with sexual cyber-violence. A wide range of neighbourhoods and
demographics were explored, and an extensive understanding of what it means to be a young
woman or girl online was captured throughout our research. Our team seeks to utilize this data
and the voices of young women to inform social services and young women as it relates to
sexual cyber violence and online experiences.
Initial Process
In the initial stages of our research project, a staff from each agency and a group of young
women from various communities and backgrounds with sexual cyber-violence (the participatory
action research team) came together to form the direction of the project. The peer group
discussed relevant experiences of cyber-violence and sexual cyber-violence, as well as how to
best approach the research and capture authentic experiences of young women online. Together,
the peer-researchers were trained in Anti-Oppressive Practice2, methods by which to conduct
research, and potential crisis interventions, were they to arise in our focus groups.
Our research question was:
“What are young women and girls’ experiences with cyber-violence and sexual cyberviolence, and how would they inform social services and young women to best support them
through these experiences?”
1 For the sake of this document, “young women” and “girls” will be referring to any persons who choose to currently,
or have ever self-identified as women.
2 Anti-Oppressive Practice is a form of social work practice which examines power and oppression that creates
inequitable power relations in society and seeks to decrease the effects of this
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Method
Over the course of an eight-month period, the research team met weekly to review methods of
conducting research that would best suit the interest of girls and young women in the
community, as well as considering the key understandings we wanted to take away from our
study. We discussed and reviewed details in our survey, methods of approaching sensitive matter
in our focus groups, and the importance of our role as researchers to reflect on our own biases
and interpretations throughout the research project.
Once data was collected, our research team formed sub-committees to address different
components of our study. Group one was responsible for generating dialogues and reflecting on
arising themes during a team retreat; group two was responsible for analyzing and interpreting
data and bringing it to the group for discussion and finalizing a report of findings; and group
three was responsible for utilizing the data report to organize our end of term roundtable – where
we would be able to share our findings with participants of the study, as well as connect with
service providers for feedback to be used in our strategy for Year 2.
Surveys were comprised of quantitative, qualitative, Likert Scale and multiple response
questionnaires.
Limitations
Despite our best efforts to capture diverse voices and experiences of young women around the
Toronto area, the random selection of study participants did not allow a fair representation of
LGBTQ* people, Aboriginal Peoples and people living with a disability(ies). The limited time
and multiplicity of peer researchers on the team created difficulty in arranging consistent
meetings, and hindered effective in-depth focus group discussions as they were conducted on the
same timeline as our surveys. Finally, we believe the framing of particular questions in third
person may have lead participants to respond in a way that affected the way questions were
answered; for example, one question was posed using language such as “who should someone
report to if they are experiencing sexual cyber violence”, rather than “who would you report
to…”.
These limitations, in the future, could be reduced through further outreach to diverse
communities such as LGBTQ* youth services organizations, Aboriginal Peoples organizations,
more promotion of completing the survey online to address access issues, and more attention to
how the questions will be understood by young people completing it.
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Research Findings
Demographics
Our respondents were mostly girls aged 18 and over (68%), most having completed high school
as their highest level of education (91%), and some
having completed post-secondary degrees (44%).
Our highest self-identified
ethnic/cultural/racial
background was found to be
Mixed-Race by 18%
(N=211) of our respondents,
followed by 14% (N=211)
Black-African identified
persons. The least reported
group of
ethnic/cultural/racial
background was MiddleEastern and BlackEuropean, both standing at
1% (N=211) of our
respondent self-reports.
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Use of Internet
The results of the surveys revealed that girls and young women use the Internet for a variety of
purposes, most frequently to find out information/answers and for entertainment (graphed
above). Additional reasons given for utilizing the Internet given by respondents in the “Other”
category included work, gaming, online shopping and personal research purposes for hobby
projects.
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Safe vs. Unsafe Sites and Apps
On a Likert Scale3 response, participants were asked to rate social media websites and apps from
Positive/Safe to Harmful/Unsafe. Our research has found that websites rated as proportionately
higher in harm comparable to the other scaled responses include Omegle (anonymous one-onone chat app), reported unsafe by over 60% of respondents and Tinder (geolocated dating app),
reported unsafe by 52.7% of respondents. Participants rated YouTube (streamed video website)
and Vine (15 second video sharing website) the safest, with 50.1% and 52.2% frequency of
selections in the Positive/Safe or Somewhat Safe scale responses respectively4.
Self-rated perception of safety by site
Facebook
Positive/Safe
Somewhat Safe
Instagram
Neutral
Somewhat Unsafe
Harmful/ Not Safe
Twitter
Youtube
Vine
Snapchat
Tinder
Omegle
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
3 Likert Scales use fixed choice response formats and are designed to measure attitudes or opinions. These ordinal
scales measure levels of agreement/disagreement
4 Please note that respondents were excluded from the following data who answered either “Do Not Know” or “Do Not
Use This Site”, as they did not report on their perceived safety for those sites/apps.
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Percieved Online Safety
Survey Question: Do you feel safe online?
22 and older
Age of respondent
Of the 192 young women and girls
who responded to our survey
question, an overwhelming total of
81.3% (N=192) of girls reported that
they do feel safe online. There was no
significant difference in response by
age or demographic, however this
result was very significant and
contradictive to other portions of our
study in which high rates of
experiencing
unsafe/threatening
behaviors online were reported.
20-21
18-19
No
16-17
Yes
15 and younger
0
10
20
30
40
50
Number of respodents
Perceived Experiences of Sexual Cyber-Violence
When asked to report on perceived experiences of sexual cyber-violence specific scenarios, 55%
(N=212) of respondents reported that they believe unwanted sexual approaches/advances online
are very common, 48.6% (N=218) of respondents reported that coming across or being sent
sexual images online are very common, and another 45.2% (N=217) of respondents claim that
the spreading of sexual images of girls online is very common.
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Reporting of Incidents
When asked where someone should report to 5 if faced by cyber-violence or sexual cyberviolence online, 76.8% (N=211) of girls claim that one should report to a parent and 75.8%
(N=211) of girls claim that one should report to the police.
There was no significant change in data according to age, race or educational background.
Perceived Risk Factors of Being Targeted Online
When asked what perceived factors respondents believed made some girls more vulnerable to
experiencing cyber-violence, 72% (N=213) of young women believed that lack of confidence
and 70% (N=213) believed that looking or acting a certain way were the biggest factors for being
targeted. Conversely, only 28% (N=213) of girls believed that being from a certain
neighbourhood and 25% (N=213) believe that being from a certain educational background
increased risk.
5 This question was a multiple response question, meaning participants were welcome to check more than one
answer, and therefore percentiles reflect the amount of times each response was selected.
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Discussion
Online Safety
Throughout out research, it became evident that many portions of our research findings
contradict each other. Although 81.3% (N=192) of girls and young women report feeling safe
online, their experiences and their perception of occurrences such as unwanted sexual advances
and exposure to unwanted pressures or nudity online tell us there is a story to be explored in their
experiences. We propose several possible reasons for these results, which will be detailed and
elaborated on below.
Desensitization
A possible consideration for our findings is that the constant exposure to negativity that targets
girls and young women online leads to desensitization and feelings of helplessness, especially
when perpetrators of online harassment and exploitation go either unpunished or inadequately
punished.
To further support our claim concerning desensitization, we found that when our participants
answered the question: “How can we use the internet to stop sexual harassment/exploitation and
violence against young women?”, 16.4% reported that “we can’t” and commented that the only
means to reduce violence online was to stop their use of internet altogether (we labeled this
response as “Avoid or Limit Personal Internet Usage”). This feeling of hopelessness was further
supported in our focus group findings, where all participants said there is nothing we can do to
stop online violence against women and that it will always be unsafe.
However, the focus groups also reported that the they experienced violence is rooted in abusive
people, not the Internet as a whole, and that there are preventative measures that could alleviate
this problem. It would seem possible that current online safety measures are ineffective in
tackling harmful and dangerous activity targeting them online. Indeed, the second most
frequently reported way of stopping online violence was to upgrade protection resources.
When further prompted to discuss potential means of decreasing the sexualisation of women
online, participants of the focus groups expressed their recognition of the influence of popular
social media outlets and want to use it to empower themselves. The participants stated that
positive viral campaigns are “informative, inspiring and touching, especially when endorsed by a
celebrity” and the use of social media to fight back was the most frequently reported answer to
“List some ways girls challenge cyber violence online.” Leadership and advocacy by girls and
young women is required to reclaim their space on the Internet and thus, to feel safe.
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Slut-Shaming and Victim Blaming
It is evident that reported feelings of safety online are disproportionate to perceived risks and
experiences of violence by girls and young women. While many participants maintain that they
do, in fact, feel safe online, the harms of unwanted harassment, sexual bullying, and spreading of
sexual rumours, among other things, are consistently regarded as common occurrences online.
When asked what suggestions could be made to make the Internet a safer place for young women
and girls, 22.2% (N=207) of respondents said, “Don’t share or give out personal information”,
while significantly fewer proposed “educating men” on issues of cyber violence, or “Challenging
racism, sexism, etc.”
We believe the reason for this response is the shaming and blaming of individual girls and young
women who are targeted online. Respondents reported frequently that the way a person looks
and “lack of confidence” are common risk factors for cyber violence, suggesting that people look
to the person experiencing the violence to explain it, rather than the person who is perpetrating
the violence. In other words, participants believed that uninvited gestures of sexual violence
would not be commonplace if not motivated or provoked by the women and girls themselves,
thereby removing blame from the aggressors.
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Impacts of Cyber-Violence Offline
The top three most frequently reported answers to the question “How could cyber violence affect
someone’s life offline?” were “Depression, Anxiety and Emotional Trauma,” “Lowers SelfEsteem and Self-Confidence,” and “Self-Harm and Suicide.” This demonstrates the knowledge
young people have of the potential for extreme negative consequences of sexual cyber violence
for some people that experience it. It is noteworthy that in focus groups, girls stated they could
not successfully disengage from the Internet. They reported that disconnecting from the web
meant missing out on important dialogues, events, and news, so that their overwhelming fear of
the Internet is also followed by an overwhelming “fear of missing out”. We believe that actual
steps of eradicating online violence must account for how important the internet is in daily life.
The Role of Social Service Workers
Participants in both focus groups and surveys reported that simply finding support is not enough
to remedy negative and harmful situations online. As noted before, punishment for these actions
and real consequences for perpetrators are necessary for participants to feel that their issues are
being taken seriously. Participants acknowledge that counselling and service workers can help if
they are nonjudgmental, open, and alert to issues occurring in teen culture. In fact, participants
most frequently reported that “education of service workers with regard to teen and high school
culture and their community” was the most important factor in terms of how service providers
and teachers can engage with young people experiencing online violence. Focus groups reported
that relying on different support outlets is important because “Sometimes parents don’t listen, so
we need someone who will.”
It is crucial for social service workers, counsellors, parents, and community members to try to
understand the circumstances and feelings of girls and young women in a technologically
progressive society. By doing so together, they can ensure readily accessibility resources in
positive and inclusive female spaces. For example, to challenge oppressive behaviors and
attitudes on the Internet, participants acknowledged that more awareness and education for
themselves and service providers is necessary. Through focus groups, it was suggested that
talking more about online safety and cyber bullying in community spaces, holding seminars and
presentations in schools (explaining how this abuse affects an individual, the repercussions of
being a bully, and how to keep yourself and others safe), and creating anonymous support online
for people experiencing cyber violence or bullying, could all contribute to this.
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Glossary of Terms
Aboriginal Peoples: A collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants with unique
histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. p.5.
Anti-Oppressive Practice: an overall perspective on practice and advocacy that encourages practitioners to think
differently and openly about power and oppression. It recognizes that focusing exclusively on working on
individuals or groups ignores social structures, and sociopolitical and structural problems. p.4.
Cyber-violence: the use of cell phones, instant messaging, e-mail, chat rooms or social networking sites such as Facebook
and Twitter to harass, threaten or intimidate someone. p.4.
Desensitization: the diminished emotional responsiveness to a negative or aversive stimulus after repeated exposure to
it. p.14.
Exploitation: the use or manipulation of another person for one's own advantage. p.4.
Facebook: an online social networking service. p.9.
Human Trafficking: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or
use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position
of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. p.4.
Instagram: an online photo sharing social Web service that lets you share your life with friends through a series of
pictures captured with a mobile device. p.9.
LGBTQ*: an acronym that stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (as well as other minority sexual and gender
identities), and is used to designate a community of people whose sexual or gender identities can create shared
political and social concerns. p.5.
Likert Scale: Use fixed choice response formats and are designed to measure attitudes or opinions. These ordinal scales
measure levels of agreement/disagreement. p.5.
Needs-assessment: a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or "gaps" between current conditions
and desired conditions or "wants". The discrepancy between the current condition and wanted condition must
be measured to appropriately identify the need. p.4.
Omegle: a free online chat website that allows users to communicate with others without the need to register. The
service randomly pairs users in one-on-one chat sessions where they chat anonymously using the handles "You"
and "Stranger". p.9.
Participatory action research: an approach to research in communities that emphasizes participation and action. It
seeks to understand the world by trying to change it, collaboratively and following reflection. PAR emphasizes
collective inquiry and experimentation grounded in experience and social history. p.4.
Qualitative research: research using methods such as participant observation or case studies, which result in a
narrative, descriptive account of a setting or practice. p.5.
Quantitative research: the systematic empirical investigation of observable phenomena via statistical, mathematical or
computational techniques. p.5.
Sexual cyber-violence: the use of cell phones, instant messaging, e-mail, chat rooms or social networking sites such as
Facebook and Twitter to harass, threaten or intimidate someone sexually. p.4.
Sexualisation: to make something sexual in character or quality. p.14.
Slut-Shaming: the act of making, or attempting to make, a person, especially a woman or girl, feel guilty or inferior for
certain sexual behaviors, circumstances, or desires. p.15.
Snapchat: a mobile app that allows users to send and receive "self-destructing" photos and videos. Photos and videos
taken with the app are called Snaps. The sender determines how many seconds (1-10) the recipient can view the
Snap before the file disappears from the recipient's device. p.9.
Tinder: a location-based social discovery application that facilitates communication between mutually interested users.
The dating app allows users to chat with their matches. p.9.
Twitter: Twitter is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages
called "tweets". Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. p.9.
Victim Blaming: the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially responsible for the harm that befell
them. p.15.
Vine: a free mobile application that enables users to record and share an unlimited number of short, looping video clips
with a maximum length of six seconds. p.9.
YouTube: a video sharing service that allows users to watch videos posted by other users and upload videos of their own.
p.9.
May 8, 2015 [CYBER SELF-DEFENSE PROJECT]
Acknowledgements
METRAC, St. Stephen’s Community House, and East Metro Youth Services would like to thank all of
the participants involved with this research project, including:
For Youth Initiative
Central Toronto Academy – Girls’ Group
Central Neighbourhood House – Girls’ Night Out
St. Alban’s Boys & Girls Club
Malvern Family Resource Centre