Seeking rape justice: Formal and informal responses to sexual violence through technosocial counter-publics

Abstract

Communications technologies are being used in varying ways to perpetrate and extend the harm of sexual violence and harassment against women and girls. Yet little scholarship has explored the uses of communications technologies, to support reporting, investigation and prosecution of sexual assault, nor indeed less formal mechanisms of justice. In this article, I contend that communications technologies are not simply new tools for conventional formal justice, but rather that these technologies are mediating new mechanisms of informal justice outside of the state, in turn challenging meanings of justice in western liberal democracies. In so doing I employ concepts of technosocial practices operating in counter-public online spaces, to explore the potential (and limits) of communications technologies as mediators of rape justice.

Crime and Justice in Digital Society: Towards a ‘Digital Criminology’?

“…For example, Corien Prins (2011) has advocated for a sub-field of e-victimology exploring how digital participation facilitates new practices for self-help and self-activism, as well as the increased potential for threats to victims' well-being and privacy. Similarly, Anastasia Powell (2014Powell ( , 2015 and Bianca Fileborn (2014) have examined emerging 'informal justice' practices of victim-survivors and their advocates in response to sexual violence and street harassment operating in civil society. Meanwhile, some scholars have also raised concerns surrounding informal justice processes embracing the use of technologies, highlighting the potential for a digital media 'pillory' (see Hess and Waller 2014) 2013) whereby digital vigilantism can result in injustices, harassment and violence towards alleged offenders.…”

‘Today I Speak’: Exploring How Victim-Survivors Use Reddit

“…Perhaps victimsurvivors might disclose online because they want to have their story heard or to find a community that can offer support (Powell 2015a). Victim-survivors have written about their experiences on personal blogs or, for example, shared their stories with online communities such as 'Project Unbreakable' on Tumblr (Fawcett and Shrestha 2016;Powell 2015aPowell , 2015b. This Tumblr community is a space for victim-survivors to share images, typically of themselves holding a paper sign detailing narratives of their abuse, without naming the perpetrator.…”

“…She also notes that, by sharing about their experiences online, victim-survivors might be meeting their 'justice needs' of having a voice, being believed, being heard and having control over their experience (Fileborn 2014 2011;McGlynn, Westmarland and Godden 2012). Some criminologists have begun to explore how victim-survivors might fulfil these justice needs through digital platforms (Fileborn 2014;Powell 2015b;Salter 2013). …”

“…Secondly, criminologists suggest that disclosing online could be described as online activism or 'cyber justice', whereby victim-survivors are using informal spaces to raise awareness around sexual violence and rape culture (Powell 2015b;Sills et al 2016). Fileborn (2014) notes that, for street harassment, a type of sexual violence for which formal responses are often limited, online initiatives such as Hollaback!…”

“…Hai-Jew (2014) notes that online 'vengeance culture' encourages the hacking and sharing of private information, the distribution of revenge pornography or the sharing of violent videos. Nevertheless, for victim-survivors, this 'vengeance culture' can manifest through online naming and shaming of perpetrators (Filipovic 2012;Powell 2015b;Salter 2013). …”