Digital Violence Dictionary
What can't be done on the Internet?
The online world has become a part of life, we can’t measure where we live more, in real or online spaces, digital technologies do everything to for us to wander in this world and not to get tired, to reach from one end of the world to another, to find someone or something that we want.
But it is the easiest to get lost in that infinity, like in a famous game we can meet unreal and anonymous demons with several heads, sometimes finding the criminal will be like fighting against windmills, they will shoot us, but with what weapon and how, we will not even imagine and realize for a long time. And only when we find ourselves in a trap, we will understand how carelessly we walked in this big world.
New technologies provide new opportunities, as in any case one will use it to create a drug, the other one to create a poison, and it is not accidental that criminals and crimes have also moved to the digital world, what is happening in reality, thousands of times elaborated, targeted is done in the online space.
This is where you can lose huge amounts of money, get hurt so hard and painfully that the wounds will always remain unhealed for us, even if people forget about it one day, search engines will remember and remind the searcher.
Online violence, the wounds are as real as the bruises left after domestic violence, physical abuse, it can weave such traps that it is almost impossible to get rid of. It can harm a person, causing feelings of shame and guilt, depression, panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, isolation.
The online pitfalls no one tells you about.
High salary, flexible schedule,opportunity of working from home, no experience required, bonuses every month, all you need is to have internet, join the Telegram channel or register on our website…
It is very tempting, especially since it does not require any knowledge, skills or abilities, but promises a high salary… Why, what free money is it, is it charity, of course not․․․ However, the comments of similar announcements are full of +s and you “send the details”s. People sign up for jobs, fill in information, then get broken accounts, bank cards, lost documents…
Our hero had the same problem. 22-year-old Marine /name has been changed/ has started correspondence for modeling work. They urged her to register on the “models” website, she filled in the data, although the Facebook page was hacked, but she continued to believe. She did not doubt, they would pay her a high salary, give an iPhone just for taking pictures in front of the mirror.
In the recording, Marine will present in more detail what kind of pitfall they prepared for the girls.
If Marine managed to escape, we cannot say how many girls and women between the ages of 13 and 40 were trapped and at what cost.
This is just one version of digital or online violence, abusers develop different mechanisms to capture, charm and then exploit vulnerable situations and people.
Digital abuse occurs when one person tries to manipulate, intimidate, control, or harm another person through gadgets, apps, and social media. It is often accompanied by other forms of abuse, including emotional and physical.
During 2020 and after the pandemic, the number of online residents increased several times. International experience and surveys show that 85% of women have experienced or witnessed online violence, the problem has no geography, it can be dangerous anywhere in the digital space.
92% of women said that online violence harmed their well-being and decided to limit their postings on the Internet, not sharing their thoughts and opinions with self-censoring.
During 2022-2024, 3,497 cases of crime were registered, the vast majority of which, 3,091 cases, were financial thefts. In particular, 158 cases of extortion were recorded in the first half of 2024, but the police do not keep separate records of victims, women and girls, regarding the fact that they were committed online.
Cybercrimes in Armenia are increasing year by year, if about 300 cases were recorded in 2019, then about 1,198 in 2023. This fourfold increase only applies to cases that have reached the police.
The report prepared under the Council of Europe project “Ending violence against women and promoting gender equality in Armenia”, program confirms that few people turn to the police. Only 23 percent of those surveyed have turned to law enforcement agencies.
“The aim of the research was to highlight whether cybercrimes that specifically target women are part of the crime spectrum, and whether there is a need to implement preventive measures in this regard. Various surveys revealed interesting facts: legislative gaps, as well as in terms of response and prevention. There were cases where a report was filed, but the police did not have the proper tools to respond, the police thought it was not a crime, that is, they did not have the proper information to understand its importance. There were cases where they had gone through a certain stage, but did not receive a final answer, mainly through private organizations they were able to overcome them, for example, by deactivating tracking programs,” notes Anahit Parzyan, National Advisor to the Council of Europe.
The dangers of being active, honest and free in social networks
“I always keep my social networks active and I had no idea that it could become a serious problem,” says our interlocutor.” I don’t think sharing everyday activities is shameful, until “an online friend” appeared on my account. At first he commented on all my photos, then he started writing private messages. Over time he abused his position big and I had to block him. But he started writing to me with different pages and names, I blocked them all. Then he created a fake page with my photos, where he communicated with people on my behalf. And from that day my life turned into hell… I didn’t know what he was writing to people, on the street people were telling insulting words, men came up to me and made obscene proposals.”
“He chased me for a year,” the woman continues. Then he disappeared somewhere by himself. But I was so scared, I don’t post my photos and I don’t make notes anymore. I always think he’ll show up again.”
Glossary of Digital Violence
Violence can continue for a long time and those fears always accompany the victims. The psychological effects on the victim can be severe, more painful than punches, more piercing than a kitchen knife, more suffocating than hands around the neck.
In order to be safe in the digital space, it is also necessary to recognize what forms of violence there are, especially against women and girls. This will help to recognize the situation.
Cyber harassment (cyberbullying) – insults, threats or humiliating comments and messages that are continuously written on social media to hurt a woman’s dignity and reputation. Particularly vulnerable are women who are active online, including journalists, activists and public figures.
Informational violence (doxing) – publication of a woman’s personal data, such as a phone number, address or place of work, with the aim of harming or threatening her. This is often combined with threats. Such publications can be found on Tiktok, Telegram.
Pornography and distribution of images in the purpose of revenge — distribution of intimate photos or videos of a woman without her consent, which can cause serious damage to personal and social life. At the same time, it should be noted that artificial intelligence tools allow you to create deep fakes and edit bodies, adapting faces to any audio and video. This type of technology is available at affordable prices. Although this can be used to target men in some cases, for example in Armenia it was also used against some well-known men who came forward with a post saying that the video was digitally generated. By the way, in such cases, a public record of the threat helps to break the criminal chain and get out of such a situation, but most of the women do this with difficulty, although we can come across special records.
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence /Sextortion/ – messages of a sexual nature, requests for photos, or sexually offensive comments that are intended to humiliate women.
Intervention with social media accounts – hacking or illegally accessing accounts to monitor, delete information or post offensive material. This is often called a manifestation of “digital jealousy”.
Cyberstalking– the constant online following of women or the constant monitoring of posts and personal data, often accompanied by intimidating or threatening messages. Controlling women through digital technology, such as tracking their mobility through location apps or monitoring their calls and messages through some spying apps.
Creating fake pages and profiles — using fake pages or profiles to spread material on behalf of women to damage their reputation.
”We have had cases when they opened an Instagram and Tiktok page, posted a photo of a woman and wrote that she is a sex worker and wrote down her phone number. That woman was called day and night, she did not understand what was happening. They called and asked how “much your services cost”, “where can we meet”, “when will you come”… That woman was in a terrible condition. Someone wanted to play with his honor and dignity. This is also violence and can disrupt a woman’s peace and not only that”,- says Lina Antonyan, social worker of the Crisis Center for Sexual Violence.
Online violence in the family — partners can monitor the wife’s online communications, friend list, can limit free communication. Psychologist Siranush Davtyan also talks about what international experience shows in this matter.
“It is very difficult to say that violence can directly change from the digital dimension to physical violence. Of course, it happened that the wife did not allow her husband to read the letters and that was the reason for the violence. However, if we look at the international experience, that was not the only reason. It is the result of the gang control wheel, which was expressed in physical violence that day, but usually you cannot look at it directly in terms of cause and effect.”
Cyber extortion and financial exploitation.
Women can also be victims of cyber extortion, where abusers demand money or personal information by threatening to reveal embarrassing or defamatory online activities. Financial exploitation can also include hacking bank accounts, cyber viruses, phishing, etc.
By the way, not only partners and spouses can be the authors of extortion, there are many traps on the Internet that take advantage of people’s naivety and lack of literacy. For example, in the mentioned photo, one of the Internet users pretends to be a gynecologist and provides free services. Consultation and treatment is also done with a photo of the intimate parts of the body. The fact that it is free makes many people apply, but how does a newly discovered gynecologist make a diagnosis without research and analysis, people do not think long, they send the pictures and… then a demand for money for not publishing the photo. The same can be said about a free psychologist, when they take advantage of a difficult psychological situation, collect information and offer to engage in prostitution to solve financial and psychological problems.
Legal regulations and gaps.
Cases in the digital space are diverse, often law enforcement agencies and lawyers can assess which types of crime have been used. Blackmail /threat/ itself is a bunch of crimes, regardless of what the threat is aimed at: money, sexual act, distribution of a picture, violation of the privacy of personal or family life, publication of pornographic material, demand of property or exploitation of property, therefore various articles of the criminal code are applicable for punishment in various doses, from a fine up to 10 years in prison.
Candidate of legal sciences, associate professor Davit Tumasyan explains how flexible is the Armenian legislation in the matter of digital violence:
‘It is an important factor whether we consider a simple crime or whether there are aggravating circumstances. For example for extortion responsibility provides up to 4 years imprisonment, but if there are aggravating circumstances, it provides 3-6 years, even 12 years imprisonment. If that same threat is aimed at demanding sexual relations, it is already Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, if nothing is demanded, but there is some information of a personal nature, we are discussing completely different crimes.
If pornographic pictures are sent to an indefinite circle, in this case it is Article 300 of the Criminal Code. If that material is not pornographic, but personal, for example semi-naked photos or pictures of a private nature, we are guided by Article 204: violation of privacy of private or family life.
Such cases happen when photos of famous actors or people appear on the Internet. An expertise is assigned to each photo to find out whether they are pornographic or erotic pictures of a personal nature. And accordingly, the types and sizes of punishment change, from a fine to several years of imprisonment”.
The lawyer also urges that in case of all claims, the following should be remembered:
— if once the victim agreed to implement the request, it means it will be applied regularly. As a warning, never pay, never do any demands.
The RA Criminal Code regulates not only threats, but also other vicious and criminal acts in digital life. For example, stalking a person, engaging or attempting to engage in unwanted communication by using information or communication technologies, visiting their place of residence, work or study, occupation or otherwise, opening online accounts with the person’s data, if this action is performed regularly and in person caused fear or concern for his or his relative’s safety or forced him to significantly change his lifestyle, then a punishment ranging from a fine to restriction of liberty is imposed for a maximum period of three years.
Referring to the legislative gaps, according to the lawyer’s testimony, the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Code, which came into force in June 2022, is quite progressive and includes crimes involving the use of technologies.We have a small problem from a technical point of view, taking into account that people use networks that are quite difficult to track. Materials generated by artificial intelligence also create some difficulty during examinations.
There is also a problem of specialization in the field, we have law enforcement officers and IT specialists, and to be a good specialist in the field of cybercrime, knowledge of these two specializations is necessary. We do not have judges, lawyers who are specialized in these issues. On the other hand, it is important to activate and assist support centers, the public sector in recognizing, preventing and combating this type of violence. This is also evidenced by the surveys and report conducted under the Council of Europe project “Ending violence against women and promoting gender equality in Armenia”, which also emphasizes the importance of training and developing the capacities of state, legal systems, organizations, general and specialized support services, which will allow identifying and responding to cases of violence against women in the digital sphere.
How to help yourself.
What is published on the Internet remains forever.
Be careful with the information you want to share, whether it’s a text, a voice message, a photo.
Check your privacy settings regularly.
Change passwords: choose secure passwords for social networks, two-factor authentication.
Check if your devices have spyware. If you have doubts, contact the cyber security specialists.
Ask for help from relatives, friends and domestic violence professionals.
It is important to share what is happening.
Collect evidence: recordings of telephone conversations, screenshots of correspondence in which you are insulted, threatened.
Contact law enforcement Contact a psychologist, consult a lawyer.
Avoid self-blame. It is better to try to reframe what happened and learn the skills to set personal boundaries.
Be kind to yourself, observe your thoughts and feelings, and learn to accept your imperfections without judgment.
Avoid overuse of sedatives and anything that can cause you physical or emotional harm.
Seek support where you will be heard, understood and accepted.
Anahit Harutyunyan
Love correspondence or cyberviolence?
