Airtags for stalkers, hidden cameras in Airbnbs… More than news, sexist cyber violence

According to the national survey “Cyberviolence and cyberharassment: census of a widespread phenomenon” of the association Feminists against cyber harassment, more than 4 in 10 French people have already been victims of cyber harassment. The government has also been seriously addressing the topic for several years, in particular by launching awareness campaigns or even combat measures, even if the latter often remain aimed at middle and high school students.

Cyber ​​violence, however, does not only concern young people at school: in recent months, alarming news has continued to multiply in the press, with the common denominator of targeting women. We are thinking in particular of Airtags used for stalking purposes, or even hidden cameras in Airbnbs, of which Madison was the victim last spring. While staying at an Airbnb near Annecy with a friend over the climbing weekend, Madison actually noticed a hidden camera in the accommodation’s bathroom, she says to miss :

“I realized this from day one: I saw an alarm clock placed on top of a pile of toilet paper rolls. I found it strange, but quickly moved on. Then, on the third day, while I was taking a shower, I realized that the device was aimed right at me. I took a closer look at the object, then discovered that there was a memory card and a lens inside. I no longer had any doubts: we had been filmed naked without our knowledge. »

When cyber violence and justice don’t (always) go well together

Following this discovery, Madison and her friend immediately contacted Airbnb, and then went to file a report at the nearest police station. At the police station, she Madison reports being confronted by stunned police officers. However, the issue has made no progress since last May:

«The problem is that before being sued, the Airbnb owner had plenty of time to delete the videos in his possession, and therefore to delete any evidence. At the moment, although the incident occurred three months ago, he has not yet been heard for the facts of which he is accused, nor has he been placed in police custody. »

However, when Madison’s story reached the press, other young women who had stayed in the same accommodation last February contacted her to report their similar experiences. But, due to a lack of evidence, their testimonies were not enough to advance the investigation. For her part, Airbnb has taken matters into its own hands: the perpetrator is now banned from the platform.

If Madison’s case has made no progress legally, treatment by a forensic psychologist also drags on:

“I am still waiting for an appointment so that a professional can assess the moral damage I have suffered. This approach comes from me: I had to force the procedures to obtain this nomination. For my part, I began therapy at my own expense following this traumatic event, during which I felt violated. For the rest I’m in total limbo.”

What to do then when justice is not enough? Today specialized associations try to intervene to support the victims. This is the case in particular of Respect Zone, a French NGO founded in 2014, specialized in the fight against cyber violence. It brings together a group of jurists who provide voluntary assistance to victims, including Eleonore Favero, lawyer from the Hauts-de-Seine bar, who explains to miss :

“The prosecutor plays an important role in the progress of a case because he is the one who will judge the seriousness of a situation. As a result, the progress of a case is very dependent on the case, which generates huge disparities from one case to another. Especially since the topic of cyber violence is very delicate, as it is often difficult to provide evidence. And in law there is a fundamental legal principle that what cannot be proven does not exist. »

Women, the first victims of cyber violence, especially within couples

Like all other forms of violence, cyber violence also mainly affects the most vulnerable people. Again according to the national survey of the association “Cyberviolence and cyberharassment: census of a widespread phenomenon” Feminists against cyber harassment, cyber violence more specifically affects 48% of LGBTQIA+ people, 22% of people with disabilities and 84% of women. In the case of the latter we then talk about sexist cyberviolence, e.g we find them almost systematically in couples where domestic violence is already present. Let’s talk about domestic cyberviolence, a phenomenon that is still too little known today according to Léa Arguel, coordinator of the Union Régionale Solidarité Femmes, which supports women victims of domestic violence. She then deciphers for to miss :

“Domestic cyber violence is very broad: it ranges from SMS harassment to the installation of spyware on victims’ phones. For us, domestic cyberviolence is a violence in its own right, which requires a specific technique to identify it and develop strategies against it. »

In order to identify domestic cyberviolence, it is above all a question of being aware of the alarming signs. The Hubertine Auclert Center, which fights against discrimination and inequalities based on gender, recalls that a person does not have the right to demand that their spouse have access to all their messages, monitor their movements, demand to be able to contact him/her at any time, or to constantly know where he is and with whom, among other things.

While few people can precisely define what constitutes domestic cyber violence, that doesn’t mean the phenomenon isn’t widespread. In reverse: 9 out of 10 women victims of domestic violence also experience cyber violence within their relationshipadds expert Léa Arguel:

“There is a strong overlap between domestic violence and cyber violence. Cyber ​​violence often begins at the same time as other forms of domestic violence. Digital tools are in fact additional tools to allow perpetrators of violence to carry out further violence. The real problem isn’t digital, it’s the attackers. No matter what happens in the world, perpetrators will always find strategies to continue inflicting this violence.”

Why it is urgent to politicize cyberviolence

If the Internet is just an additional tool with which perpetrators of violence exercise their dominance, then could the violence that occurs on the web be just a reflection of what is happening in our society? In any case, this is the point of Ketsia Mutombo and Laure Salmona, co-founders of Féministes contre le cyberharassment and authors of a book released on September 14, 2023 entitled Politicizing cyberviolence. According to them, digital space is a network of domination just like the rest of our society:

“In this work we wanted to collect the conclusions we have drawn in these last eight years of struggles and commitments. And in fact we have been able to observe that cyber violence is not simply isolated violence. The Internet is indeed the theater of oppressions that we can observe in the tangible world, and cyber violence is a political project in its own right aimed at perpetuating these oppressions. »

Furthermore, as we have already seen, women are not the only victims of this violence. Non-white people and LGBTQIA+ people are also overexposed to this violence, she concludes with Madmoizelle Ketsia Motumbo, co-author of the book:

“We prefer to talk about gender cyberviolence to address the topic in an intersectional way. It is important for us to politicize gender-based cyber violence and insist that only by changing the organization of society can it disappear. But over the last eight years we have also been able to draw a very positive observation: The Internet has been and still is an incredible tool at the service of our struggles. There were real movements and in-depth discussions that allowed us to progress. Today, when a man publishes a woman’s nude to take revenge, he is very disapproved of, which was not the case a few years ago. For us it was very important to highlight our progress and invite everyone to continue on this path. »