One in four women in the UK do not report their experiences of abuse online, according to new research from the University of Suffolk.

The lack of reporting suggests a significant ‘dark figure’ of undetected victim-survivors, researchers have warned.

South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) commissioned the report into online harms to inform the development of a new 24/7 secure reporting platform.

This new platform, Minerva, is being developed to ease the reporting of online abuse, report crimes and help victims of online abuse re-build their lives.

Minerva is being developed by SWGfL in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and funded by the Tampon Tax Fund. SWGfL is working with a team of specialists, including partners in tech and academia, to develop the platform due to be launched in March 2023.

The interim Project Minerva report, published this month, summarised six-months of research, focusing on the forms of online abuse and how that abuse affected women.

A survey of 148 women with lived experience of online abuse found one in four felt traumatised by it, with one in five reporting panic attacks.

The findings from the University of Suffolk also found that online harm often correlate to offline harm.

Survey respondents reported being subject to a range of forms of abuse, most commonly experiencing unwanted sexual messages (61%), cyberstalking or harassment (44%), or receiving unwanted violent or pornographic content (36.4%).

Research fellow Megan Hermolle and Dr Katherine Allen, who work collaboratively as part of the Trauma, Injustice, Violence and Abuse (TIVA) research theme at the Institute of Social Justice and Crime, led the study.

Dr Allen commented: “We know online and technology-facilitated abuse of women is widespread in the UK, yet we found a dearth of technical interventions to tackle it.”

She added: “Understanding the prevalence and range of behaviours which endanger women led to our recommendations for Minerva. Ultimately, the hope is this ‘tech for good’ platform can flag to patterns of abuse, and offer signposting to specialist services, supporting women regain control and move forward with their lives.”

The concept for Minerva originates from SWGfL’s Revenge Porn Helpline and Report Harmful Content services, which supports victims of intimate image abuse.

Recommended

• Comment | What is the future of data management?
• Ultrasound recordings to shed new light on Gaelic speech
• UserTesting CEO to talk empathetic leadership with Startup Grind Scotland

Reports of intimate image abuse to the Revenge Porn Helpline doubled in 2020 and continue to rise with the onset of deep fake software.

Competition authority Ofcom has been working to try and further protect people online as cases of online abuse continue increase.

In June this year Ofcom commissioned a study into the digital lives of UK residents has found real-world concerns about keeping women safe online.

Findings from the Online Nation report found that women are less confident about their online safety than men, more negatively affected by discriminatory, hateful, and trolling content, and feel less able to have a voice and share opinions.

Ofcom has also previously carried out research into the habits of young people online and found that two thirds of teens and young adults encountered a damaging piece of content – but only one in six go on to report online harms.

Get the latest news from DIGIT direct to your inbox

Our newsletter covers the latest technology and IT news from Scotland and beyond, as well as in-depth features and exclusive interviews with leading figures and rising stars.

To subscribe, click here.