ICMC Responds to Online Violence and Exploitation Affecting Refugee Communities
On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2025, celebrated on 8 March, we take a look at Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence and its impacts for refugee communities, and hear from survivors supported by ICMC
Technological developments over the past three decades have led to an explosion in the ways that people around the world are able to stay in touch and share information. The many benefits of technologies such as social media and online applications are, however, accompanied by new possibilities for exploitation, bullying, harassment, and violence.
In Malaysia, ICMC has provided crucial support for survivors of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) from refugee communities, predominantly women and girls.
“I had a very brief romantic relationship with a young man from my community. He was furious when I said I wanted to end our relationship, and began bombarding me with messages in an effort to make me go back to him.
Ms. C, 22, a refugee living in Malaysia
When I stopped answering, he began posting accusations on social media that I was promiscuous and engaged in relationships with many different men. When I still didn’t answer, he used his TikTok account to post photos of a naked woman that he had edited, using an AI application, to add my face. The photos are really realistic, and were circulated so widely within our community that it is impossible for me to explain to everyone who has seen them that it isn’t me. In the end, I was fired from my job.”
What is Technology-Assisted Gender-Based Violence?
While online and digital exploitation, harassment, and violence affect many millions of people around the world, common understandings of the nature and extent of the problem are still developing.
Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) is commonly defined as “any act of gender-based violence that is committed, assisted or aggravated in part or fully by the use of information communication technologies, such as mobile phones and smartphones, the internet, social media platforms or email.” TFGBV disproportionately affects women and girls, with a 2020 survey in which 38 percent of women who responded had personal experience of TFGBV, 65 percent knew women in their personal or professional networks who had been targeted, and 85 percent had witnessed online abuse and exploitation targeting women from outside their networks. While TFGBV is perpetrated in digital or online spaces, more than half of directly affected women and girls responding to the survey knew their perpetrator.
‘He tracked me down’: Links Between Online Crime and Offline Harm and Violence
Online bullying, violence, and exploitation are inextricably linked to violence and harm in the physical, offline world. Seven percent of women responding to the 2020 survey on TFGBV had lost or were forced to change their jobs due to online violence, 35 percent reported mental health issues, and 10 percent had experienced physical harm as a result of online threats.
“When I was in my country, a family friend in Malaysia introduced me to Mr. K, his cousin. We were talking and exchanging photos on WhatsApp for a few months, and finally he said he had fallen in love with me and proposed marriage. My father was very concerned for my safety in our country and believed I would be safer in Malaysia, so he agreed to the marriage, and I traveled to Malaysia.
Ms. D, 21, a refugee living in Malaysia
Very soon after we were married, my husband began beating me. After several months, I finally found the courage to leave, and I went to stay with an aunt who lives on the other side of the city. We’d never been there together so I thought I’d be safe, but it only took him a few days to find me and begin threatening us. I later found out he’d used social media to send messages around the community to find out where I was.”
“There is a definite link between domestic violence and technology that we see within both refugee populations and the wider community here in Malaysia”, explains Ms. Su Zane Wong, Case Manager for ICMC Malaysia’s Gender-Based Violence (GBV) service. “Where survivors leave an abusive domestic situation, the husband, intimate partner, or family member who has perpetuated the abuse often uses social media to send messages to the wider community to find out where they are, and continue to harass and threaten them. In other instances, invitations to meet an online connection in person can lead to physical violence, most often involving sexual assault and rape.”
Even without a direct connection to real world violence, TFGBV has a unique set of impacts for its victims, in particular where it involves threats to share messages, videos, or images. “Victims receiving threats don’t know when, where, or if their content will be shared, so they live in a constant state of tension, pressure, and fear,” recounts Ms. Wong. “Because of this, victims are unable to exit social media or apps where they fear content will be shared, so they stay engaged with the source of their abuse. The psychological impact is enormous.”
Impacts of TFGBV for Refugees
Smartphones and the ability to access social media and online resources are essential for refugees, including prior to departure, throughout their migratory journeys, and post-arrival. Smartphones and social media have a particular role to play in settlement and integration, providing refugees with the ability to keep in contact with friends and family, and access informal online networks that can help them find support and resources.
The importance of social media and internet channels is evident within refugee communities in Malaysia. “Refugees are often very isolated in Malaysia, especially in the period following arrival”, Ms. Wong explains. “Technology is a useful way to make friends and connections here, and the vast majority of refugees make use of it both before and after they arrive.”
“I had been in Malaysia with my family since I was 11 years old, and when I was 16, my father became sick and could no longer work. Our only income was that of my older brother: things were very hard for us, so I wanted to find work. I saw a cleaning job advertised on Facebook by Mr. H. I chatted with him for a while and he seemed kind, so eventually I agreed to go to his house to meet him. I arrived at night, and after we talked for a while outside Mr. H invited me into his house.
Ms. F, 18, a refugee living in Malaysia
Once we got inside, everything changed. He told me I would have to sleep with him in exchange for his arranging the job for me. When I refused, he beat and eventually raped me. I finally escaped and found my way home, but a day later, I received a video of the rape that he’d taken with a camera he’d hidden in his house. He told me he would share the video with my friends and family on Facebook, unless I agreed to have sex with him whenever he wanted.”
Social networking sites and applications have become important tools to find employment, in particular for refugees who may be excluded from mainstream, more formal employment due to prejudice or lack of official permission to work.
“In Malaysia, we are seeing an increasing number of cases amongst refugee communities in which victims are offered jobs via social media, and encouraged to meet the advertiser to discuss the opportunity in person,” says Ms. Wong. “They are then taken somewhere where they can’t escape, where they are raped or sexually assaulted. It’s very common that victims are then threatened with the distribution of photos and videos of the assault that were surreptitiously taken or recorded, unless they pay the perpetrator or agree to meet them again.”
As in the case of Ms. D, above, social media has also become a tool to secure an arranged marriage in Malaysia for women and girls living in a third country. “We have seen several cases in which a bride overseas, sometimes a minor, receives and accepts a marriage proposal, often with little to no interaction between her and her future husband,” explains Ms. Tan-Nathan. “In some instances, the proposal was accepted because photos of the future husband seemed acceptable, but when the bride arrives in Malaysia they find that the groom is not as portrayed. The conflict this causes very often leads to spousal violence.”
“I met Mr. C when I was 19, when my family and I were still living in my home country. It was a romantic relationship, but it only lasted for a few months before myself and my family were forced to flee to Malaysia. We kept in contact via WhatsApp, and eventually, he asked me to send intimate photos. I thought I was in love with him, so I trusted him enough to send them.
Ms. E, 24, a refugee living in Malaysia
A few weeks after, he demanded that I send him money, or else he would send my photos to people in my community with whom he was in contact. I didn’t have any money to send him, and I pleaded with him to delete the photos. I heard nothing for a while, then suddenly, men in the neighborhood started to come to our house to demand sex from me. That’s when I understood that he had shared the photos. The shame meant my father lost his job, and although we went to the police they cannot help because Mr. C is not in Malaysia.”
As in the case of E above, access to justice for refugees affected by TFGBV in Malaysia is, in practice, impossible where the perpetrator is located in another country. “When the victim is in Malaysia but the perpetrator is in a third country, often the country of origin, it is very difficult for the police in Malaysia to take any action,” Ms. Wong explains.
“We still encourage victims to report to the police so the crime is recorded, and victims can report incidences of TFGBV to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, who have the technology to block images and videos where a victim has email addresses or phone numbers. But even though authorities are supportive when we accompany victims to make reports, it is very hard for victims to recover if perpetrators do not face any direct consequences for the abuse they have inflicted.”
“I am a gay man, living as a refugee in Malaysia. It’s a pretty lonely existence, because both my community and Malaysian society do not approve of homosexuality. I started using dating applications to try to find other gay men to make friends with, and very soon, met a man who said he was in the same position as me. I was so happy to finally find someone to talk to, and we chatted for several months, sharing photos and stories of our lives.
Mr. J, 27, a refugee living in Malaysia
After a couple of months, he suddenly started to threaten that he would send my photos and messages to my family and others in our community, unless I agreed to send him money every month. He even sent me screenshots of my family members’ social media profiles to prove he could do it. I don’t have money to send him, and I am afraid to go to the police because homosexuality is illegal here. He has since deleted his profile, so I cannot contact him and I don’t know if he has shared my photos and messages. I live in constant fear that he will do so, and of what will happen to me when he does.”
While the majority of refugees targeted for TFGBV in Malaysia are women and girls, male refugees from the LGBTI community are also highly vulnerable. “Men from this community are doubly isolated, as refugees and within their own communities, and they seek support and friendship via social media and dating apps”, says Ms. Wong. “After a period of contact, some receive threats to share their messages and photos within the community, unless they pay money or agree to provide sex. There are no Malaysian laws that protect the LGBTI community against discrimination and hate crime, and sexual activity between men is illegal, so it’s impossible for them to report these crimes to the police.”
The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a noticeable impact on instances of TFGBV, cyberbullying, and online exploitation, including for refugees in Malaysia. “From what we’ve seen, COVID-19 reinforced and expanded the use of online communication technologies as people tried to stay in contact, study, and work during lockdowns,” explains Ms. Tan-Nathan. “As much as the availability of technology improved people’s lives under those circumstances, the increased number of both adults and children online created many new opportunities for perpetrators. Cases have really spiked since then.”
International and Local Policy Responses to TFGBV and Online Exploitation
While awareness of TFGBV and online exploitation and violence has grown, including in relation to how they affect refugee communities, international policy has not yet offered a complete response.
The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, revised its Policy on the Prevention of, Risk Mitigation, and Response to Gender-Based Violence in 2020, although the revised document makes only a single reference to the inclusion of TFGBV within the broader umbrella of violence against women and girls. “We certainly see that international policy remains more focused on physical, offline violence, which is not surprising because technology moves so quickly,” says Ms. Tan-Nathan. “COVID-19 also delayed many of the policy review processes that might have created a stronger framework for an international response.”
A lack of comprehensive data and data collection efforts at global level is mirrored in local responses in Malaysia. “The TFGBV nature of cases is not recorded when victims report them to police,” explains Ms. Tan-Nathan. “A case involving rape becomes solely a rape case, for example, and while it’s of course crucial that this aspect has prominence and is investigated, there is no systematised approach to recording cases in which technology has enabled the crime. We urgently need to start documenting some baseline data, to strengthen policy responses and help to address the nature and extent of what is really happening.”
While the ability of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to block specific photos and videos when they receive a report of TFGBV is one positive aspect for refugees in Malaysia, the requirement for police reports to include a specific location and identifying details for perpetrators creates an additional barrier for reporting. “It is our hope that this aspect of reporting is modified in future, to reflect the fact that TFGBV takes place online and, in many cases, without the identity of the perpetrator being known”, says Ms. Tan-Nathan. “For this to happen, authorities must become much more cognizant of TFGBV and other online exploitation and violence.”
