Bystander intervention and image-based sexual abuse: the Italian case of Telegram groups

• In Event: Bystander Intervention and Image-Based Sexual Abuse

Abstract

The diffusion of non-consensual intimate images is a largely debated topic in the study of Internet cultures. Among its many implications, it represents one of the main ways in which gender-based violence is currently perpetrated every day on the Internet. Through a data scraping of the main 6 Italian Telegram groups where such phenomena take place within the platform, this ongoing research aims at analysing descriptively the messages exchanged throughout a whole week among the members of these communities. A key part of the research is to analyse the interactions that take place within these groups and how the men have created a community within which, despite knowing the social disvalue of supply and demand, they empower and encourage each other, justifying themselves. This behaviour can be traced back to a toxic masculinity and a patriarchal system, which spills over into the language used towards women, whose intimate images and personal details are daily shared; we also noticed that there is a high request of child pornography: some of the keywords inside the groups are in fact “rape” and “kids”. From a social point of view, how would those men who are not present within these groups react? Despite in many cases we have registered an attitude of solidarity towards other men, minimising their behaviour, we will deepen if instead there could be, five years after the enactment of the Italian law regulating image-based sexual abuse, a breeding ground for a bystander intervention, educating the society is recognizing a harmful situation and choosing to respond in a way that will positively influence the outcome.

Authors

• Cosimo Sidoti, PhD candidate at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Transcrime, Milan, Italy

• Edel Beckman, Clinical Criminologist at PermessoNegato APS