When silence speaks: Confronting abuse in everyday, digital spaces
Abusive behavior can take place even in the most unlikely places.
A few years ago, at a holiday-themed school event for my daughter, it happened to me. I was going around doing my Christmas shopping when I bumped into an elderly former colleague.
The atmosphere was festive and everyone was warmly greeting one another, so imagine my shock when after I greeted him, he started alluding to me—unprovoked, unwarranted and totally off-topic, as a woman of ill repute.
He went on to make jokes about this to my other coparents, who gave him funny looks, hoping he would understand that his behavior was off-putting. However, despite how offensive he was, nobody, myself included, had the courage to actually tell him to stop.
If this elderly colleague could have the audacity to behave the way he did in person, in the presence of children and school teachers, shielded by the privilege afforded by his age and status as a member of a prominent family, imagine how emboldened similar personalities could be, cloaked in the anonymity afforded by the digital spaces and online platforms.
The world is witnessing an alarming rise in the use of technology and online platforms to target individuals on the basis of gender. Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) refers to acts of abuse or harassment that are committed, assisted or amplified through digital technologies.
These can take the form of image-based abuse, “sextortion”, cyberstalking, online sexual harassment, doxing and other kinds of digital intimidation that seek to shame, silence or control.
TFGBV is rooted in gender inequality and discrimination, often intersecting with other forms of bias based on race, sexual orientation or gender identity. While it disproportionately affects women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals and others who challenge traditional power structures are also frequent targets.
These attacks transcend physical boundaries, spilling into homes, schools and workplaces, and can escalate into offline violence, forming part of a broader continuum of gender-based abuse.
Beyond just personal harm, TFGBV undermines rights, safety and participation with lasting mental, social and economic consequences for individuals, their families and communities.
Underreporting is the norm
In Philippine workplaces, this includes online harassment, cyberstalking, sharing of private images and gossip on digital platforms. Underreporting is the norm due to stigma and fear of retaliation.
On the bright side, workplaces looking to create safer spaces for their employees can look to a supportive policy environment:
- Safe Spaces Act (Republic Act No. 11313) penalizes gender-based sexual harassment in streets, public spaces and online platforms, including workplace cyber harassment.
- Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act (RA 9262) covers psychological abuse through digital means.
- Data Privacy Act (RA 10173) protects personal data and sanctions unauthorized sharing of private images.
However, despite the enactment of these public policies, many companies still lack specific digital gender-based violence-related clauses in their antiharassment policies. Consequently, human resource (HR) departments are not ready to handle TFGBV complaints.
Rampant abuse
TFGBV can occur on personal and professional platforms, and its impact on the workplace is significant. Globally, the United Nations Population Fund reported that around 60 percent of women have experienced online violence in the form of hate speech, inappropriate content or sextortion.
Inaction on the part of companies is unacceptable: like the offensive tito at my daughter’s school, silence and inaction only serve to embolden perpetrators.
As such, it is important that protocols to respond to digital harassment be clearly and intentionally embedded in HR systems. Productive, innovative workers can only thrive in spaces that offer them physical and psychological safety.
It is important, therefore, for employers to:
- Integrate TFGBV definitions into antiharassment policies;
- Provide employees with anonymous reporting channels and ensure that these result in informed, appropriate and consistent action;
- Conduct regular and mandatory digital ethics and consent training for all levels of employees; and
- Regularly audit use of internal digital tools, channels and platforms for potential abuse.
Policymakers can support these initiatives by strengthening the enforcement of RA 11313, specifically its coverage of workplace TFGBV. They can also push for Department of Labor and Employment-issued guidelines on TFGBV reporting in private companies.
Perpetrators of abusive behavior hide behind privilege and anonymity. They thrive on the inability of victims and bystanders to challenge their behavior and in environments that allow their behavior to go unchecked.
To this day, I regret being unable to stand up for myself on that day in my daughter’s school: I often replay the incident in my head with me calling out the offensive behavior and being supported—loudly—by my coparents and teaching staff.
As my experience clearly shows—subtle cues and a supposedly safe environment do nothing to deter abusive behavior. Communities and organizations must be unequivocal about their stand against this type of violence and provide clear repercussions for transgressors.
Then and only then can we create and sustain spaces that are safe, inclusive and productive.
(Julia Andrea R. Abad is the executive director of the Philippines Business Coalition for Women Empowerment. She now chooses to speak out through her work, which includes supporting organizations seeking to raise awareness of and strengthen policies against TFGBV.)
