Tarah Demant: Psychological violence and abuse is real and has real impact on people and is it very clearly delineated human rights abuse, but also, post-traumatic stress disorder and things that directly impact the lived experience of survivors. That’s happening with psychological abuse online because, to get to that second part, the online space is real. There’s often the IRL verse online, but real life is online. We are deeply connected, and we use online spaces in every facet of our life. Twitter is an essential means of communication for people, and so to say, “Just turn it off,” is somewhat like telling a survivor, “Just don’t ever answer your door in case it’s someone you’re concerned about or afraid of, or just don’t ever go outside, or just don’t ever use your phone.” It’s like, sure, you could do that, but you then, you can’t participate in daily life in a way that you need to and are entitled to.
This was interesting listening, especially after what happened with Kate O’Halloran.
Thank you for listening!