POL01 – Policing Online Harms: Protecting Women and Girls in the Digital Age

Supervisors: Professor Olga Jurasz (Professor of Law, The Open University Law School, Faculty of Business and Law; Director, Centre for Protecting Women Online) and Dr Keely Duddin (Lecturer in Policing, Organisation and Practice, Department of Policing, The Open University Business School, Faculty of Business and Law).

Project description:

In today’s interconnected world, the boundaries between online and offline spaces are increasingly blurred, creating environments where violence against women and girls (VAWG) thrives. Addressing this complex and pressing societal challenge is crucial for shaping proactive, evidence-led, victim-centred, and intersectional policing strategies.

The increasing prevalence of online harms has led to the development of legal and policy frameworks such as the Online Safety Act 2023, the EU AI Act 2024, and the EU Digital Services Act. However, policing responses to these issues often remain fragmented and reactive. Limited understanding of the diverse forms of online harm experienced by women and girls has resulted in gaps in prevention, enforcement, and victim support. This issue was highlighted in Jurasz’s (2024) four nations study, which emphasises the need for more informed and cohesive policing strategies to effectively address online harms. Additionally, the rapid advancement of technology and AI continues creating further complexities for policing in the digital age.

Although online VAWG is recognised as a key policing priority, insufficient knowledge, gaps in laws, rapid technological developments, and inadequate resourcing hinder the ability to provide effective, victim-centred responses. These challenges contribute to underreporting and erode public trust and policing legitimacy.

A coordinated, well-resourced, and gender-informed policing approach is essential—not only to ensure safer digital environments but also to rebuild public trust, enhance policing legitimacy, and improve victim-centred responses. Such strategies would enable proactive measures, foster collaboration with technology platforms and stakeholders, and support officer well-being and skills development.

We welcome PhD proposals that address the following themes:

Legitimacy and prevention:

How can policing improve public trust and confidence in addressing online harms?
What victim-centred approaches and proactive strategies can policing develop to prevent and respond to gendered online harms?
How can policing foster integrated collaboration with technology platforms and other agencies to combat online violence against women and girls?

Officer well-being and skills development:

What training and resources are needed to equip police officers with the skills to investigate online harms effectively?
How can police organisations support officer well-being when dealing with complex, tech-mediated cases of abuse?

Understanding suspect behaviour:

What are the behavioural patterns of individuals perpetrating gendered online harms, and how can these insights inform proactive interventions?
How does anonymity and the disinhibition effect of online spaces influence suspect behaviour?

Intersectionality and vulnerability:

How can policing tailor responses to the diverse experiences of women from intersecting identities and vulnerabilities in online spaces?
What role does intersectionality play in shaping risk factors, victim experiences, and reporting behaviours?

Impact:

This research has the potential to contribute to policing by shaping evidence-led prevention strategies, improving victim-centred practices, and supporting officer training and collaboration. Additionally, it offers an opportunity to influence the narrative around laws and policies, advocating for frameworks that account for the unique experiences and vulnerabilities of women and girls in online spaces. Proposals that explore innovative frameworks and methods for policing are particularly encouraged.

Applications are welcomed from candidates with an interest in policing, gender studies, law, criminology, psychology, technology, and public policy.

Please visit Centre for Protecting Women Online to familiarise yourself with the full range of disciplines represented.

Funding:

Please note that this opportunity is for a full-time, fully funded PhD studentship (i.e. fees and maintenance) funded through Research England. UK and international applicants are eligible to apply.

Centre for Protecting Women Online:

The successful candidate will be based in the Open University's Centre for Protecting Women Online and supervised by academic staff at the Centre. The Centre for Protecting Women Online is funded by a £7.7 million grant from Research England. It is a vehicle for understanding and addressing challenges posed to women’s safety online through a novel, interdisciplinary and ambitious research agenda. This is combined with cross-sectoral collaborative outputs and interventions which inform law, policy, technology development and practice to reduce online harms suffered by women and girls. The Centre’s work aims to minimise anti-social behaviours online whilst promoting pro-social behaviours and to help build tech/software that helps ensure accountability, credibility and facilitate justice. The Centre is led by Professor Olga Jurasz and work of the Centre is delivered via five interwoven work streams: Law & Policy, Human Behaviour, The Future of Responsible Tech, Ethical and Responsible Tech/AI, and Policing.

Supervisors:

Professor Olga Jurasz is Professor of Law at the Open University and Director of the Centre for Protecting Women Online. Her research expertise is in legal responses to violence against women and feminist approaches to governance of online spaces. Professor Jurasz is a leading voice in the field of law & violence against women. She published her research widely, including two books: Online Misogyny as a Hate Crime: A Challenge for Legal Regulation (Routledge 2019), and Violence Against Women, Hate and Law: Perspectives from Contemporary Scotland (2022).

Professor Jurasz's expertise has been used by governments, international organisations and third sector organisations to influence changes in law and policy in areas of online violence against women, criminal law, online communications and State obligations concerning violence against women. Professor Jurasz provided expert advice to the Council of Europe regarding the development of the first recommendation on the digital dimension of violence against women by GREVIO - the Council of Europe’s independent expert body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. Professor Jurasz has been appointed by the Council of Europe to be an Independent Expert to the Committee of Experts on combating technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.

She is a member of the TechUK Violence Against Women and Girls Digital and Tech Working Group and regularly appears in the media as an expert commentator on contemporary matters in her research areas.

Dr Keely Duddin is a Lecturer in Policing Practice and Organisation, a Policing stream lead, and a Chartered Psychologist. Holding a PhD in Health Psychology, she specialises in research that can be implemented into practice, with a focus on well-being, mental health, women's and working parents' rights, and suicide prevention. Formerly the Head of Research for a UK police force and a Special Constable in a domestic violence unit, she continues to collaborate with police forces to enhance practices and foster research and knowledge exchange with police organisations and external partners. Her work bridges academia and practical application, focusing on protecting women and underrepresented groups and improving police practices to better support and protect the public.

Keywords: policing online harms, victim-centred policing, online safety, online violence against women, online gender-based violence, online crime prevention.