Description
Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) can be defined as intimate images taken or created of you without your consent; intimate images of you shared without your consent; and/or threats to take or share your intimate images without your consent (Henry et al., 2019).
This project encompasses one-on-one interviews with victim-survivors and key stakeholders; yarning circles with victim-survivors; and a stakeholder focus group. This project highlights Indigenous theoretical frameworks: postcolonial theory, Australian Indigenous Women's Standpoint theory, and Australian Indigenous Feminism, as well as Indigenous methodologies: Aboriginal Participatory Action Research (APAR) and yarning/yarning circles.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women and LGBTQIA+ people are the populations most affected, compared to men, heterosexual people, and non-indigenous Australians (Henry et al., 2017; Henry et al., 2019; Henry et al., 2021; McGlynn et al., 2021). A paucity of research has been undertaken with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander victim-survivors focusing on technology-facilitated abuse (Office of the eSafety Commissioner, 2021), social media engagement (Kennedy, 2020), and dating apps (Carlson & Day, 2022), however, to date, and my knowledge, there has been no qualitative research undertaken to explore lived experiences and impacts of IBSA in Indigenous communities. My research focuses on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander gender-diverse people's lived experiences of IBSA through Aboriginal Participatory Action Research (APAR), which involves Aboriginal researchers and participants collaborating to bring about social change (Dudgeon et al., 2020). This project encompasses one-on-one interviews with victim-survivors and key stakeholders; yarning circles with victim-survivors; and a stakeholder focus group. This project aims to understand Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander gender-diverse people's lived experiences of IBSA, including interpersonal impacts, reporting and disclosure, as well as the effectiveness of mainstream and Indigenous-led support services in responding to reports and/or disclosures of IBSA from Indigenous victim/survivors.
SERC researchers
- Michelle Gissara
- Nicola Henry
- Georgina Heydon
Project dates
2023-2026
Funding body
RMIT Vice Chancellor's Indigenous Predoctoral Research Fellowship
