Cyber-Disability Hate Cases in the UK: The Documentation by the Police and Potential Barriers to Reporting

Alhaboby, Zhraa A.; Al-Khateeb, Haider; Barnes, Jim; Jahankhani, Hamid; Pitchford, Melanie; Conradie, Liesl; Short, Emma

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-68534-8_8

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Although fear is reported here as an impact as it might influence how the individual manages the chronic condition and results in health consequences, it can also be viewed as a factor to build on for future interventions. For example, the fear of safety was one of the factors that facilitated the reporting of cyberhate cases to the police [ 51 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cybervictimization of Adults With Long-term Conditions: Cross-sectional Study

Alhaboby¹,

Barnes²,

Evans³

et al. 2023

J Med Internet Res

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Background People living with chronic conditions and disabilities experience harassment both offline and on the web. Cybervictimization is an umbrella term for negative web-based experiences. It has distressing consequences on physical health, mental well-being, and social relationships. These experiences have mostly been documented among children and adolescents. However, the scope of such experiences is not well documented among adults with long-term conditions, and the potential impact has not been examined from a public health perspective. Objective This study aimed to examine the scope of cybervictimization among adults living with long-term conditions in the United Kingdom and the perceived impact on self-management of chronic conditions. Methods This paper reports the findings of the quantitative phase of a mixed methods study in the United Kingdom. This cross-sectional study targeted adults aged ≥18 years with long-term conditions. Using a web-based link, the survey was shared on the web via 55 victim support groups, health support organizations, and social media accounts of nongovernmental organizations and activists such as journalists and disability campaigners. People with long-term conditions were asked about their health conditions, comorbidities, self-management, negative web-based experiences, their impact on them, and support sought to mitigate the experiences. The perceived impact of cybervictimization was measured using a set of questions on a Likert scale, frequency tables, and the Stanford Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Diseases Scale. Demographic data and the impact on self-management were cross-tabulated to identify the demographic characteristics of the targeted individuals and potential conditions with complications and highlight directions for future research. Results Data from 152 participants showed that almost 1 in every 2 adults with chronic conditions was cybervictimized (69/152, 45.4%). Most victims (53/69, 77%) had disabilities; the relationship between cybervictimization and disability was statistically significant (P=.03). The most common means of contacting the victims was Facebook (43/68, 63%), followed by personal email or SMS text messaging, each accounting for 40% (27/68). Some participants (9/68, 13%) were victimized in web-based health forums. Furthermore, 61% (33/54) of victims reported that experiencing cybervictimization had affected their health condition self-management plan. The highest impact was on lifestyle changes such as exercise, diet, avoiding triggers, and avoiding excessive smoking and alcohol consumption. This was followed by changes to medications and follow-ups with health care professionals. Most victims (38/55, 69%) perceived a worsened self-efficacy on the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Diseases Scale. Formal support was generally rated as poor, with only 25% (13/53) of victims having disclosed this experience to their physicians. Conclusions Cybervictimization of people with chronic conditions is a public health issue with worrying consequences. This triggered considerable fear and negatively influenced the self-management of different health conditions. Further context- and condition-specific research is needed. Global collaborations to address inconsistencies in research are recommended.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cybervictimization of Adults With Long-term Conditions: Cross-sectional Study

Alhaboby¹,

Barnes²,

Evans³

et al. 2023

J Med Internet Res

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“…The manipulation of technology can therefore disproportionately affect this group [ 14 ]. Victimization of patients with chronic conditions or disabilities is particularly prevalent and the rise in disability hate crimes mediated through technology has a severe negative repercussions on physical and psychological health [ 31 – 32 ]. Alhaboby et al report the negative health impact resulting from these forms of technology-facilitated abuse including anxiety, psychosomatic illness and self-harm [ 32 ].…”

Section: 0 Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safeguarding patients from technology-facilitated abuse in clinical settings: A narrative review

Straw

Tanczer²

2023

PLOS Digit Health

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Safeguarding vulnerable patients is a key responsibility of healthcare professionals. Yet, existing clinical and patient management protocols are outdated as they do not address the emerging threats of technology-facilitated abuse. The latter describes the misuse of digital systems such as smartphones or other Internet-connected devices to monitor, control and intimidate individuals. The lack of attention given to how technology-facilitated abuse may affect patients in their lives, can result in clinicians failing to protect vulnerable patients and may affect their care in several unexpected ways. We attempt to address this gap by evaluating the literature that is available to healthcare practitioners working with patients impacted by digitally enabled forms of harm. A literature search was carried out between September 2021 and January 2022, in which three academic databases were probed using strings of relevant search terms, returning a total of 59 articles for full text review. The articles were appraised according to three criteria: (a) the focus on technology-facilitated abuse; (b) the relevance to clinical settings; and (c) the role of healthcare practitioners in safeguarding. Of the 59 articles, 17 articles met at least one criterion and only one article met all three criteria. We drew additional information from the grey literature to identify areas for improvement in medical settings and at-risk patient groups. Technology-facilitated abuse concerns healthcare professionals from the point of consultation to the point of discharge, as a result clinicians need to be equipped with the tools to identify and address these harms at any stage of the patient’s journey. In this article, we offer recommendations for further research within different medical subspecialities and highlight areas requiring policy development in clinical environments.

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“…DTČN jsou v oficiálních statistikách významně podreprezentovány, a to i ve srovnání s jinými trestnými činy z nenávisti [Alhaboby et al 2021;Macdonald, Donovan, Clayton 2017;Thorneycroft, Asquith 2015: 490] [Walach, Petruželka, Kalibová 2022]. Globálně tak DTČN zůstávají těmi "celofánovými zločiny", za které je měl Sherry [2003: 1] před téměř dvaceti lety: "Lidé jimi procházejí, hledí skrze ně, a přesto o nich nevědí."…”

Section: Neviditelnostunclassified

“…Nejedná se o výběr reprezentativní; pokrytí všech relevantních témat přesahuje rozsah věnovaný časopisecké studii, a tak např. důvody k oznamování viktimizace [Alhaboby et al 2021;Sin 2013] či dopady násilí na napadené [Burch 2021;Vedeler, Olsen, Eriksen 2019;Williams, Tregidga 2014] zůstaly stranou.…”

Section: Závěrunclassified

Violence, Bias and People with Disabilities: An Introduction to Disablist Hate Crime Research

Walach¹

2024

Czech Sociological Review

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Violence against disabled people has recently been recognised as an important, albeit neglected research topic. Drawing attention to violence motivated by anti-disability bias, this article offers an introduction to research on disablist hate crime. First, it presents a conceptualisation of hate crime and explains such concepts as disablism and ableism. Second, it discusses the concept of disability/disablist hate crime and analyses four areas that reflect the multifaceted nature of disability hate crime research and the social applications of the concept, ranging from conceptual issues to empirical findings, to political implications. These issues are:(1) vulnerability (a strongly criticised belief that people with disabilities are susceptible to victimisation because of 'their' disabilities); ( 2) invisibility (the under-representation of disablist violence in police statistics); (3) risk (individual and social factors that produce situational vulnerabilities to disablist hate crime); and (4) intervention (measures suggested to prevent disablist hate crime, including the hate crime legislation). Possible future directions of research are outlined in the conclusion.

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Cyber-Disability Hate Cases in the UK: The Documentation by the Police and Potential Barriers to Reporting

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Cybervictimization of Adults With Long-term Conditions: Cross-sectional Study

Cybervictimization of Adults With Long-term Conditions: Cross-sectional Study

Safeguarding patients from technology-facilitated abuse in clinical settings: A narrative review

Violence, Bias and People with Disabilities: An Introduction to Disablist Hate Crime Research

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