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Luise Koch presents at the Annual Conference of the Centre for Protecting Women Online

At the Annual Conference of the Centre for Protecting Women Online, held at The Open University in Milton Keynes from 10-11 September 2025, Luise Koch presented findings from her final PhD paper, co-authored with Macarena María Sfeir Sfeir, Angelina Voggenreiter, Thayna Yaredy, and Prof. Dr. Janina Steinert: Technology-Facilitated Violence and Political Participation: The Dynamics of Online Harassment in Brazil. The Centre for Protecting Women Online is a newly established initiative that brings together researchers, practitioners, and policy experts to address the urgent challenge of online violence against women. Its Annual Conference aims to build a shared understanding of online harms, foster collaboration, and discuss effective strategies for prevention and response.
Picture Credit: Sabrina Page

Luise presented a large-scale, mixed-method study on technology-facilitated violence among politically active individuals in Brazil, combining survey data from 597 respondents with interviews with seven women politicians. Key findings included:

  • Gendered dynamics: While men reported higher overall exposure to harassment, women faced more personalised and gendered abuse, ranging from patronising comments to appearance-based attacks and threats of sexual violence.

  • Consequences: Technology-facilitated violence was found to cause significant emotional and political harm, with frequent harassment strongly associated with thoughts of political withdrawal.

  • Intersectionality: These harms exacerbate inequalities shaped by patriarchy, political polarisation, and racialised dynamics, making technology-facilitated violence a broader democratic challenge and a threat to achieving SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

Beyond her own presentation, Luise valued the opportunity to engage with the centre’s vibrant international network of scholars and practitioners and left the conference with a strong sense of hope that meaningful change is possible.

 

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