Exclusive: Victorians will be trained to call out harassment in effort to ensure that women’s voices are heard

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Victorian government is funding a world-first project to address sexual abuse and violence against women online through a program that will train people to call out sexism and aggression on the internet.

The project is an alliance between a number of domestic violence and women’s advocacy organisations including Gender Equity Victoria, Domestic Violence Victoria and Women’s Health Victoria.

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Last year the UN special rapporteur on the promotion of freedom of expression, David Kaye, said “online gender-based abuse and violence are undeniably a scourge, and governments and companies should be taking action against it”.

But Gender Equity Victoria’s manager, Jacinta Masters, said governments had not known where to start to tackle online violence against women. “For a long time the internet has been seen as too big or too overwhelming,” she said.

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“But it is imperative we make sure women’s voices aren’t silenced. We hope this project will particularly strengthen the voices of women from LGBTIQ and migrant and refugee communities, as well as the voices of women who don’t conform to dominant ideas of femininity, because we know they’re the ones who are so often targeted and silenced.

“A lot has been done in workplaces to tackle sexism but these methods haven’t really been trialled before on social media.”

Masters said women were tired of waiting for major social media platforms like Facebook, Reddit and Twitter to address the targeting of female users and stamp out pages and users promoting revenge porn and misogyny.

The project being led by Gender Equity Victoria will work with moderators at media organisations to help them understand the gendered nature of violence. But a major part of the initiative, Masters said, would be empowering online “bystanders” to speak up and call out sexism.

“We want ethical internet users to, when we see abuse online, to feel able to intervene,” she said. “This project is about supporting people who believe in equality and respect towards women to get behind and support women who receive online abuse. Often bystanders feel ill-equipped to do this or are worried about saying the wrong thing, so we will support those people to get the skills they need.”

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Victoria’s minister for women and minister for the prevention of family violence, Natalie Hutchins, on Thursday announced $400,000 in funding for Gender Equity Victoria, and a further $114,000 for the Active Bystander project.

“We need to take the lead from brave women who call out sexism and sexual harassment online, and ensure those who speak out are supported,” Hutchins told Guardian Australia. “This project is a significant step in addressing the sexist commentary which women continue to endure online.’’

An Amnesty International report published in March found 9% of 1,100 British women surveyed thought Twitter was doing enough to stop violence and abuse against women, while 78% felt that sharing their opinion would lead to being targeted with abuse. Amnesty found women reported stress, anxiety and panic attacks as a result of these harmful online experiences.

• Guardian Australia is a partner in the Active Bystander project