The rapid technological development has changed how sexual violations are committed, investigated, and prosecuted within the legal system. The project examines the intersection of law and technology in relation to these changes.
By investigating new forms of technology-facilitated sexual harms and their consequences, we aim to gain a better understanding of the need for legal regulation in a digital age.
The research project explores technology facilitated sexual violence and the growing use of technology by law enforcement and courts.
New technologies, such as smart phones and social media platforms, have become vital to social connections; moreover, they have reshaped sexual violence in two distinct ways. First, technology is being increasingly incorporated into traditional forms of sexual violence, such as when perpetrators take pictures of their victims while assaulting them. Second, technology has contributed to the creation of new forms of sexual harm, such as image-based abuse and deepfake technology.
The implications of these developments are twofold. First, the use of technologies as part of harmful sexual conduct offers new possibilities to investigate and prosecute sex crimes in general due to an increased amount of technological evidence. Second, the role of technology in both traditional sexual violence and new forms of sexual harm have instigated a need for legal regulations of these practices.
The study will focus on three changes organized in separate sub-projects. Changes in 1) legislation and case law regarding technology-facilitated sexual harms; 2) the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence; 3) peopleʼs knowledge, attitudes and conceptualizations of the use of law in relation to technology-facilitated sexual harms.
Read more on the project website at University of Oslo.
