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Last week, President Biden created a new task force aimed at addressing online harassment and abuse. As many victim services organizations know all too well, these harms come with enormous costs and the effects are far-reaching. For all its wonders and benefits, the internet has also become a place inflamed by hateful comments, misogyny, and downright abuse.
What will this task force do?
The task force’s objective is clear – to strengthen the federal response to threats online, especially those facilitating gender-based violence. Working with survivors and experts, they plan to create recommendations intended to prevent, respond to, and protect programs and policies on a global scale.
The responsibilities of this task force will include:
- Better coordinate efforts in the government sector and improve its effectiveness
- Draft policies to increase accountability for perpetrators
- Expand data collection standards for all federal government entities
- Improve research standards to accurately determine costs, prevalence, exposure to, and impact of technology-facilitated gender-based violence
- Expand access to services for survivors and offer additional resources in the form of information and support
- Scrutinize existing laws to find weak spots and strengthen as needed
Additionally, the White House will be exercising more specific actions such as:
- Advancing Technology to Assist Victims of Crime Program
- National Domestic Violence Hotline Survivor Survey
- Research from the National Threat Assessment Center
- Research on Access to Services for Survivors of Cyberstalking
- Expanded Focus on Technological Abuse in the Reauthorized Violence Against Women Act
- New Report on the Online Harassment of Women Political Figures
- Expansion of the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse
To read the full fact sheet, click here.