Online abuse victims left without support as harmful content stays online for years, University of Suffolk study finds
University of Suffolk research reveals a patchwork of support services that can be hard to navigate - and sometimes retraumatising - for women targeted by technology-facilitated abuse
Women who have been targeted by online abuse are being failed by a patchwork of support services that can be difficult to navigate and, at times, retraumatising, a new University of Suffolk study has found.
The research, carried out by the University's Institute for Social Justice and Crime and published in the journal Gender and Justice, found that victims struggle to report abusive content and to have harmful material removed, leaving them vulnerable to escalating abuse.
Harm that lasts for years
One participant told researchers that intimate images shared without her consent by a former partner were still online a decade later. "This is something that's going to be with me for the rest of my life," she said.
The study examined a range of gender-based abuse facilitated online, including the non-consensual sharing of sexual images, cyberstalking, intrusive messaging, online coercive control and misogynistic abuse directed at women.
A support system that leaves victims "going nowhere"
Researchers interviewed five women who had survived technology-facilitated abuse, along with five professionals working in support services. Participants described the support available from statutory services as variable, with reporting routes so complex that some felt they were "going nowhere". While there were examples of good practice, others encountered responses described as "ineffective, uninformed and potentially even retraumatising".
The report was also critical of websites that host non-consensual intimate images and obstruct their removal, saying such sites "become powerful actors in ongoing victimisation".
Victims also reported worrying early on about appearing to overreact, or finding it difficult to demonstrate that the abuse was a pattern of behaviour rather than isolated incidents.
Researchers call for investment in specialist services
Dr Katherine Allen, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Suffolk and co-author of the report, said the testimonies had outlined "a stark landscape where continual harm and a lack of support in having online content removed or investigated has become the norm" for women affected. She added that rapid technological change and the "boundary-less, unpredictable and often hostile spaces online" were leaving victims vulnerable to continued abuse affecting their wellbeing, mental health, finances and physical safety.
Co-author Dr Megan Hermolle, Lecturer in Forensic Psychology at Coventry University, said participants had particularly valued specialist gender-based violence services, describing feeling "heard, supported and believed". She said the findings pointed to "a need for sustained investment in the specialist gender-based violence sector to meet rising demand and increasing complexity".
A study still relevant today
The interviews were conducted before the introduction of the Online Safety Act, but the authors said the findings remained relevant.
The full report, 'This is going to be with me for the rest of my life': perceived barriers to reporting technology-facilitated abuse, is published in Gender and Justice, Volume 2, Issue 2 (2026).