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New toolkit developed by Aston University aims to help keep young women and girls safe from online abuse from the dark web.
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Researcher consultant and author Nina Jane Patel and broadcaster Kirat Assi are both backing the project
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The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) and West Midlands Police are supporting the project.
Two survivors of online abuse are backing a new toolkit designed by Aston University to help combat violence against women in the digital sphere.
Academic and researcher Dr Nina Jones Patel and broadcaster Kirat Assi have both praised the new CyberDIVA (Dark Web Investigation of Violence & Abuse) initiative ahead of International Women’s Day on Sunday 8 March.
The CyberDIVA project has been created by Dr Anitha Chinnaswamy at Aston University in partnership with Forensic Pathways after receiving funding from Innovate UK.
The toolkit features helpful tips for parents and guardians on warning signs of abuse as well as an emoji definition guide which can be used to identify hidden meanings behind the graphics when used on social media.
The Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), and West Midlands Police, including the Regional Cyber Crime Unit, are supporting the project.
Former Aston University student Harkirat Kaur Assi, known to many as Kirat, is a successful marketer and local radio presenter, with a profile in her community and networks.
In 2009, she and those around her had been carefully and strategically targeted over a period of time by her own cousin, who she treated as a younger sister. The manipulation took place online and in the real world involving over 50 characters, some of whom she knew of through friends and family in the real world.
Her story – which was featured in a six-part podcast by Tortoise and then a Netflix documentary – involved coercive control, catfishing, identity theft, and other forms of abuse and harassment.
Kirat said: “The CyberDIVA initiative is incredibly important because it will help parents and care givers to better understand the digital world from young person’s perspective and that is vital to combat the dangers. The emoji decoder and website information will provide much needed insight into online coded languages, trends and behaviours and be kept updated to always provide a current picture.
“As the victim of catfishing for almost ten years, I know firsthand how difficult it can be to navigate the constant and rapidly changing digital presence we have in our lives. The internet is an extension of real life, and for perpetrators has become another tool to use against women and young girls.”
Dr Nina Jane Patel is a research consultant and author.
In 2022, she was abused in a virtual world and was “surrounded by three to four male-sounding and male-representing avatars, who started sexually harassing me in a verbal sense and then sexually assaulting my avatar”.
Nina said: “We live in a world that increasingly prioritises anonymity over accountability. Emotional relationships are now formed and maintained through devices, and younger people need support to navigate that reality with emotional intelligence. CyberDIVA is a resource that helps people build those skills and strengthens the foundations for future generations.
“Technology is embedded in every part of our lives. Until we address the underlying issues with intention, nothing will change and the same patterns will continue. In the home, parents and caregivers shape how children use technology. Their involvement is the most influential factor in how children develop healthy digital habits. The digital and physical are no longer separate. Our digital identities continue to exist even when we are offline, and our profiles and data are always present.
“We are living in a moment when the prospect of human life on the Moon and eventually Mars is no longer speculative but part of serious global planning. Technology will determine whether we can survive and flourish in those environments. Technology is not going away, and it will integrate into our lives in ways we cannot currently even comprehend. Now is the time to act with clarity and urgency to protect individuals in all emerging spaces so that human life, in every context, can thrive.”
- Notes to editors
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Caption: Nina Jane Patel and Kirat Assi at the launch of the CyberDIVA project.
The website can be viewed here https://main.d3q1myeyadoup6.amplifyapp.com/
About Aston University
For over 130 years, Aston University has been making our world a better place through education, research and innovation. Our history is intertwined with the remarkable city of Birmingham, once the heartland of the Industrial Revolution and now the thriving base for an innovation ecosystem of global significance, which Aston is co-creating.
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The university offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, as well as continuing professional development solutions.
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Aston University is now defining its place in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and beyond) within a rapidly changing world.
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