Tips for reporting on Online Abuse
What is it?
For example, in domestic abuse situations, men have used email, text and social media to stalk, harass and threaten female partners. This includes threatening to share intimate photographs without consent, and doing so.
Even if perpetrators are not known to victim-survivors offline, online abuse causes real world fear, often exacerbated by abusers sharing details such as a victim-survivor’s address or information about family members.
Tips for reporting
- Don’t reproduce abusive or malicious posts, tweets or images when reporting online abuse. Making it easy for readers to find the abusive material can cause further harm to the victim-survivor. It may also enhance the perpetrator’s profile and, under current legislation, you may be at risk of breaking the law
- If someone shares an intimate image of another person without their consent, it is not the fault of the person in the image because they took or agreed for the image to be taken. It is the fault of the person who shared the image without consent.
Related downloads
Media Guidelines on Violence Against Women and Girls for Broadcast
Media Guidelines on reporting on men's violence against women and girls for broadcast journalism.
Zero Tolerance's Media Guidelines on Violence Against Women and Girls for Print
Zero Tolerance's media guidelines on violence against women and girls are for journalists, editors, and other media professionals.
