Over a quarter of domestic violence cases involve children in technology-facilitated abuse, according to a research report from the Australian eSafety Commissioner.
The Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant said technology-facilitated abuse was a factor in the vast majority of all domestic violence cases but her office’s new report, Children and technology-facilitated abuse in domestic and family violence situations, found 27 per cent of the cases also included perpetrators directly abusing children through technology-facilitated abuse, or involving them in abuse that was directed at their mother.
“[The Report] reveals that where domestic violence practitioners have knowledge of technology-facilitated abuse involving children, monitoring and stalking is the most prevalent type of abuse reported,” Ms Inman Grant said.
“This research highlights the serious impact of technology-facilitated abuse on children, and how widespread it is, with perpetrators misusing common devices and platforms, such as mobile phones, texting and social media,” she said.
“The perpetrating parent makes the children a pawn in the technology-facilitated abuse of the other parent, and this causes real harm to the child’s mental health, to their relationship with the non-abusive parent, and to their everyday activities.”
Ms Inman Gant said threats and intimidation delivered through technology were estimated to have occurred in four in 10 cases, while blocking communication was estimated in a third of cases.
“For young people, abusive texts and harassing phone calls were the most common types of abuse they experienced,” the Commissioner said.
“They described persistent abusive, controlling, threatening and manipulative technology-facilitated communication,” she said.
Ms Inman Grant said the Report was commissioned by her office and funded by the Department of Social Services under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children 2010-2022.
The eSafety Commission’s 87-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
