‘Little recourse’ for women who experience online sexual abuse

MORE than half of women have been sexually harassed by strangers online, a new study has found, with Instagram identified as the worst platform, accounting for over half the incidents.

Some 53 per cent said they had received inappropriate and unsolicited sexual comments from strangers, ranging from threats of sexual violence to crude remarks, jokes or demands for sex, according to the research.

More than a quarter (28 per cent) received inappropriate pictures and 23 per cent said they had been sent nude photographs by men showing their genitals.

Most of the women who had been victims of the sexual posts on their personal sites said it had begun from a young age, often between 12 and 14 years old.

The disclosure comes as the Government’s draft online harms bill will be considered by MPS next month. Ofcom, the regulator, will get powers to fine social media firms, although critics say it is not tough enough on legal but harmful online issues such as harassment.

Ten per cent of the 400 participants aged from 18 to 38 in the research reported that they had received unsolicited offers of free items or gifts in exchange for sex.

“I had somebody ask me over Instagram if they could be my ‘pay pig,’” said one of those questioned.

“[I] asked him what that was he said he pays beautiful women and then gave me his number because he was ‘ready to pay’.

“When I asked him what the catch was he said pictures in lingerie, phone calls and meet-ups. I told him no and he got quite angry.”

Of the women who reported receiving inappropriate messages online, the most common sources were Instagram (51.7 per cent), Snapchat (34.8 per cent), and Facebook (25.1 per cent).

A similar pattern was observed for inappropriate pictures with Snapchat, the most common at 59.8 per cent, followed by Instagram (36.5 per cent).

Unsolicited nude photos were most commonly received on Snapchat (64.4 per cent) and Instagram (36.7 per cent)

“There is little recourse for women who experience online forms [of] stranger-perpetrated sexual violence,” said the researchers from Toronto University.“