Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women in Greece: A Qualitative Study of Professionals’ And Institutional Representatives’ Responses and Perspectives

Abstract

ABSTRACT This qualitative study examines how frontline professionals and institutional representatives in Greece understand and respond to Technology-Facilitated Violence Against Women (TFVAW). Drawing on feminist perspectives and data from counseling, psychosocial support, law enforcement, and policymaking, participants described TFVAW as part of a continuum of offline and online gender-based violence. Reported forms included image-based sexual abuse, threats and coercion, stalking, surveillance, hate speech, grooming, cyberbullying, and internet trafficking, with young women and girls identified as particularly vulnerable. Participants highlighted the lasting harms of TFVAW, including trauma, shame, fear, social withdrawal, mistrust, and revictimization linked to the persistence of digital content. Responses were constrained by limited recognition of TFVAW as violence, insufficient digital literacy and institutional resources, fragmented reporting pathways, evidentiary challenges, and difficulties securing platform cooperation. Although promising practices such as safety apps, professional training, awareness initiatives, and alternative legal avenues were identified, responses remain fragmented. The findings also reveal conceptual ambiguity, a lack of shared typologies, and the role of bystanders in amplifying harm, underscoring the need for harmonized definitions, trauma-informed responses, and stronger institutional coordination and support systems.