Please read the report for the full list of resources contextualized for the university context.
IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF IMMEDIATE SUPPORT/HELP (Via FemTechNet)
Crash Override Network has an email helpline. Heart Mob can help you create a safety plan and offer support. You might also look into TrollBuster’s new Pilot Monitoring Services. Their infographic of what to do in specific situations is particularly helpful. The Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) and the Purple Sisters Youth Advisory committee have developed Tech Without Violence, a set of resources to help prevent, respond to and support individuals experiencing online gender-based violence or harassment—known as cyberviolence.They have site-specific for social media platforms as well as some excellent online safety tips.
1. Document the harassment
2. Block the harassers
3. Mitigate the Internet Trollstorms: A Step By Step Guide via Geek Feminism
https://geekfeminism.wikia.org/wiki/Mitigating_internet_trollstorms
Femtechnet provides resources for both survivors of this violence and employers who aim to support them. Geek Feminism provides advice to survivors of trolling. Crash
Override provides additional support. Cyberbullying.org offers lists and suggestions. Cyber Civil Rights Initiative provides information about online removal of offensive images, including non-consensual pornography. Although most advice is targeted at individuals, universities can assist scholars in undertaking necessary steps to mitigate
these situations. By having this information readily available on universities’ Media Relations Offices websites, scholars can more readily access this information if or when they need it. While historically most scholars have faced this harassment alone, or with the help of a few peers, universities must assist their employees. Each university’s Media Relations Office can tailor this information for their scholars.
FemtechNet has created and aggregated some of the most useful resources:
Online Abuse Crisis Helpline (Crash Override Network)
Doxxing Support (Crash Override Network)
How to Remove Yourself from People Search Websites (ZDNet)
Mitigating Internet Trollstorms (Geek Feminism Wiki)
Cyberbullying Basics (StopBullying.gov)
Self-Defense in an Online War (Jaym Gates)
Stay Safe Online (National Cyber Security Alliance)
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In November 2021, Dr. Stef Duguay and Dr. Alex Ketchum invited Dr. Jennifer Lundquist of UMass Amherst to speak about the work she has been doing at her institution to create policies and systems to support scholars enduring digital harassment based on their public engagement (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dr-jennifer-lundquist-on-addressing-the-digital-harassment-of-scholars-tickets-161531837073?aff=ebdsoporgprofile). The event was one of the 49 events of the speaker series Dr. Ketchum has organized since 2019: Disrupting Disruptions: Feminist and Accessible Publishing, Communications, and Technologies Speaker and Workshop Series. The recording of Lundquist's talk is available on the website (https://www.feministandaccessiblepublishingandtechnology.com/p/videos.html) , as is a copy of the materials she created at UMass (here is the google drive direct link https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Rg597e_ub25GwsY6NmejNAh7Z4eSPUyL and here is the website link: https://www.feministandaccessiblepublishingandtechnology.com/p/reading-lists-we-love.html) These challenges are something Dr. Ketchum also address in her book, Engage in Public Scholarship!: A Guidebook on Feminist and Accessible Communication (2022). The book will be available in open access May 2022 (https://www.concordia.ca/press/engage.html).