‘There are no safe spaces anymore’: ubiquitous connectivity and the regulation of technology-facilitated misogyny and gender-based violence

Benjamin Farrand

Chapter 14 in Research Handbook on Gender, Violence and Law, 2026, pp 225-241 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter considers how misogyny manifests in the digital environment as tech-facilitated abuse. Whether through the dissemination of misogynistic content on social media, or the use of smart devices to monitor, control and manipulate, women are subject to a range of abusive behaviours mediated through technology. Considering these two case studies, this chapter argues that law alone is not enough – in some fields, concerns over the limits of speech-criminalization and freedom of expression make further law-making difficult; in others, laws already exist but are limited in effectiveness by the ability to prove that abuse is taking place. Instead, developers need greater awareness of the abuses that can be perpetrated through their systems, and through systems of co-production with vulnerable groups, design them in such a way as to empower those users, and ensure a sense of agency in responding to technologically manifested forms of misogynistic behaviour.

Keywords: Online Harms; Gender-Based Violence; Artificial Intelligence; Smart Devices; Misogyny; Agency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035319398
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