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. 2023 Oct;24(4):2210-2226.
doi: 10.1177/15248380221090218. Epub 2022 May 10.

Technology-Facilitated Abuse in Intimate Relationships: A Scoping Review

Michaela M Rogers  1 , Colleen Fisher  2 , Parveen Ali  3 , Peter Allmark  1 , Lisa Fontes  4
Affiliations

Technology-Facilitated Abuse in Intimate Relationships: A Scoping Review

Michaela M Rogers et al. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) is a significant, harmful phenomenon and emerging trend in intimate partner violence. TFA encompasses a range of behaviours and is facilitated in online spaces (on social media and networking platforms) and through the misuse of everyday technology (e.g. mobile phone misuse, surveillance apps, spyware, surveillance via video cameras and so on). The body of work on TFA in intimate relationships is emerging, and so this scoping review set out to establish what types of abuse, impacts and forms of resistance are reported in current studies. The scoping review examined studies between 2000 and 2020 that focused on TFA within intimate partnerships (adults aged 18+) within the setting of any of these countries: the UK and Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The databases MEDLINE, CINAHL and Scopus were searched in December 2020. A total of 22 studies were included in the review. The main findings were that TFA is diverse in its presentation and tactics, but can be typed according to the eight domains of the Duluth Power & Control Wheel. Impacts are not routinely reported across studies but broadly fall into the categories of social, mental health and financial impacts and omnipresence. Similarly, modes of resistance are infrequently reported in studies. In the few studies that described victim/survivor resistance, this was in the context of direct action, access to legal or professional support or in the identification of barriers to resistance.

Keywords: cyber abuse; cyber harassment; digital coercive control; technology-facilitated coercive control.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA Flow chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. * Leitão R. (2019. a). Anticipating smart home security and privacy threats with survivors of intimate partner abuse. Proceedings of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference, San Diego, CA, USA, June 2019
    1. * papers included in the review.
    1. Afrouz R. (2021). The nature, patterns and consequences of technology-facilitated domestic abuse: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 152483802110467. Advanced Online Publication, 10.1177/15248380211046752 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arksey H., O’Malley L. (2007). Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(1), 19–32.
    1. Bailey J., Flynn A., Henry N. (Eds), (2021). The Emerald international handbook of technology facilitated violence and abuse. Emerald Publishing Limited.

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