OUR 
RESEARCH

NORDREF, in collaboration with women’s shelters, police authorities and courts, conducted research in 2022-2023 to profile perpetrators of gender-based online abuse in Sweden, Denmark and Iceland, using various sources and methods. The final report can be read here.

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The research focused particularly on image-based sexual abuse, illegal threats and sexual harassment (including so-called dickpics). The negative impact online abuse this has on women’s both personal and public life has been evident in a Nordic and a global context. In these research results, perpetrator profiles are established with regard to age, gender, motive and relationship to the victim. This lays the foundation for evidence-based proposals, such as NORDREF's ongoing Game Changer project, with the aim of countering and ultimately preventing online abuse, which in turn strengthens democracy and gender-equality. 

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This project was funded by the Nordic Equality Fund (NIKK) 2021-2023. The results were presented in front of a live and online audience in collaboration with RIKK, the Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference in Iceland on February 2024 in the Museum of National History, Reykjavík.