“Dickpics” and deepfakes: More women are looking for advice on sexual violence online

Stalking, harassment, deepfakes - the Federal Association of Women's Advice Centers and Women's Emergency Calls calls for more attention to digital gender-based violence. "Various forms of digital violence, especially image-based violence, increased sharply again in the pandemic when digitization penetrated even more areas of our lives," says speaker Kerstin Demuth. Many women have therefore turned to the more than 200 specialist advice centers nationwide; however, exact figures are not available. "It is very stressful if, for example, pictures are stolen, whether from the ex-partner or because the cloud was poorly secured, and then nude photos of the victims are circulating on the Internet."

It is difficult to find each of these images on the Internet and to take action.

"We need security that firstly, content will be removed more quickly that is distributed without the permission of the photographed person, and secondly, that it will not be uploaded again or will at least disappear again quickly," Demuth demands and refers to the responsibility of the platforms.

Examples of digital sexual violence include “dick pics” (images of penises sent without being asked), “deep fakes” (in which images of the victims are retouched for pornographic content), identity theft, stalking or harassment on the Internet.

Demuth calls for studies that shed light on how widespread such forms of violence are in Germany.

Sandra Schwark, psychologist and criminologist, did her doctorate on the representation of sexual violence against women in the media.

She says that (digital) sexualised violence is in most cases not about initiating sexual contact, but about exercising power.

"Look, I can do this right here, I can put you in a situation that is uncomfortable for you, and in case of doubt it has no consequences for me at all," says Schwark.

Studies also indicate such a power imbalance.

Studies investigate the motives behind digital acts of violence

The authors of a well-known study on "Dickpics" assume that many men who send penis pictures are not consciously motivated by hostility or sexism, but they still reinforce it by sending them. 82 percent of the men surveyed who sent unsolicited genital images hoped in the study by the team led by Flora Oswald (2019) to sexually arouse the recipient. Every second (50 percent) stated that the recipient should feel attractive through the picture. And about the same number hoped for “sexy pictures” as an answer (51 percent), wanted to turn others on (53 percent) or signal their own sexual interest (49 percent).

Psychotherapist Jonas Kneer sees one problem in the fact that such behavior is repeated the sooner it is not followed by negative consequences.

He works in the prevention project “I Can Change” at the Hannover Medical School with people who fear that they can no longer control their sexual impulses.

This is to prevent attacks in advance.

If this does not succeed, it is important to prosecute them.

Information on how to document acts of digital violence is available to those affected via the Dickstinction.com homepage.

There you will find out, for example, that you should add the date and time of the message and the name of the sender to the screenshot of a "dick pic".

You can also answer questions about the incident and create a report for the police.

Ads are often an added burden

Sending "Dickpics" is a criminal offense: "Anyone who allows pornographic content to reach someone else without being asked to do so is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year or a fine," says the Criminal Code (Paragraph 184) .

Investigations are made more difficult if the person concerned does not know the sender and the profile name does not reveal who it is, says "Dickstinction" co-founder Stefan Bieliauskas.

When deciding whether to file a complaint, women's emergency hotlines and counseling centers can also help. Those affected also receive tips there on how they can otherwise deal with what they have experienced. Kerstin Demuth from the Federal Association of Women's Advice Centers and Women's Emergency Call calls for training for the police and public prosecutor's office. “Unfortunately, there is sometimes a lack of knowledge about gender-specific components of violence, hierarchy and power structures and digitization. For example, if it is not understood why it is not an option to close the social media account or delete the e-mail address. ”For some victims of image-based sexual violence, an advertisement is such an additional burden.

Psychologist Schwark believes that in order for something to change permanently, more should be discussed in society about consensus, violence and gender images.

Psychotherapist Jonas Kneer also sees potential in learning: “Many people have a bad feeling for their own sexual needs and those of others - this favors crossing sexual boundaries.

It is important to learn to inquire about the needs of others and to develop a feeling of how to be sexually active while respecting boundaries. "