New research into how domestic abusers are using computers and other digital technology to monitor, threaten and humiliate their victims will help guide future police investigations.
The increased availability of new technology has given perpetrators even more opportunities and methods of committing domestic abuse. Researchers from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Portsmouth have been asked by the Home Office to urgently study the relationship between technology and abuse, and how these types of crimes often fall under the framework of the Computer Misuse Act (CMA).
Until now there has been a lack of research evidence on how computer misuse offenses facilitate domestic abuse, which can take many forms. Abusers have been found to hack into devices to monitor activity, use spyware and GPS trackers, as well as threaten to distribute intimate images or harass their victims online.
There is a distinct lack of research on how technology can facilitate other crimes, particularly domestic abuse.
The research is being funded by the Home Office Domestic Abuse Perpetrators fund. The University of Portsmouth will work in collaboration with the School of Computing at the University of Kent.
Domestic abuse is a devastating crime that shatters the lives of victims and their families. According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), an estimated 2.3 million adults experienced domestic abuse in the year up to March 2020. Tragically much of this abuse does not come to the attention of the police, with only 17% of partner abuse victims reporting their experience to the police in 2017/18. Despite the significant prevalence of these crimes, little is known about perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Dr Lisa Sugiura, University of Portsmouth, the project’s principal investigator, says: “Technological advancements have given domestic abusers cutting edge methods of abuse. There is established knowledge about how Computer Misuse Act (CMA) offences enable financial crimes like fraud, through unauthorised access to personal accounts and ransomware. However, there is a distinct lack of research on how technology can facilitate other crimes, particularly domestic abuse.”
There is clearly a pressing need to investigate the technologies used by perpetrators for domestic abuse.
“Current estimates on the frequency of CMA offences do not include when an offence is a precursor to, or an inherent part of another crime type recorded as the primary offence. Understanding the scale and characteristics of CMA offences in relation to domestic abuse is crucial. This study will start to fill this gap and highlight technological enablers of domestic abuse.”
Dr Jason Nurse, University of Kent, a co-investigator commented: “There is clearly a pressing need to investigate the technologies used by perpetrators for domestic abuse, how they are sourced and applied, and to what extent are smart and internet-connected devices exacerbating the problem. Through the project, we hope to strengthen the evidence base in this domain, and further help inform what actions may work in addressing perpetrator behaviours.”