“For many years now, women’s and girls’ experiences of gender-based violence (…) have been amplified or facilitated by technology, in particular technology used in online and digital environments. Information and communication technology (ICT) has enabled the perpetration of violence against women on a scale previously unknown.”

GREVIO, General Recommendation No.1 on the digital dimension of violence against women (2021)

Technology-facilitated violence against women (TFVAWG) can take many forms, including online harassment, text-based abuse, image-based abuse (e.g. deepfakes, non-consensual sharing of intimate images), sextortion, cyberstalking, Smart Home / Internet of Things abuse. It has a significant impact on women’s lives: a 2024 study on online violence against women in the UK revealed that 8 in 10 women who experienced online violence say that it had impact on them, with over 50% of women reporting negative impact on mental health and wellbeing (Jurasz, 2024). Over 4 in 10 women also report the silencing effects of such violence, resulting in changing their behaviour on social media, withdrawing from online spaces and limiting what they say online. 

However, what happens online does not stay online. TFVAWG occurs on the continuum of violence that women and girls experience throughout their lives which occurs in online and offline spaces, through different, multiple and intersecting experiences of harm. Technology-facilitated abuse is also evolving at a pace faster than that of meaningful law & policy change which leaves gaps in substantive protection and remedies provided within the law for victim survivors. 

Your Body, My Choice, written by Sas Amoah, captures the complex nature of technology-facilitated violence and highlights ‘everyday’ experiences of violence against women and girls – the ones that do not ‘hit the headlines’ or cause social outrage. The ones that are experienced in everyday lives and that women are forced to navigate, protect themselves against and mitigate on top of living their private and professional lives.

The film invites the viewer to follow the story of Mia - the main character - portrayed by Paulette Harris-German. Mia is a highly accomplished Black journalist who experiences misogyny and technology-facilitated violence and pursues different avenues of help and redress. Her character exemplifies a lived reality of technology-facilitated abuse and women’s experience of online harms – feelings of anger, frustration, even hopelessness, combined with disbelief in their experiences amongst peers and actors in the criminal justice system. Mia’s story also highlights intersectionality of TFVAWG experiences, especially misogynoir (Bailey 2008) – a specific form of misogyny that Black women encounter at the intersection of racism and sexism. 

Your Body, My Choice is a gripping portrayal of what many women and girls experience in their everyday lives. But, importantly, it creates a space for reflection about the pressing need to break everyday cycles of violence experienced by women and is a call for action to challenge and stand up to sexism and misogyny. You can watch Your Body, My Choice on YouTube by selecting the image below. 

Please note: this film contains strong language, discussion of misogyny, online abuse and violence against women. You may be asked to confirm your age when viewing the film on YouTube.