Patricia Allen Memorial Lecture

Abstract

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence is a serious problem in the internet era. As our lives become more digitally mediated, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of online violence have significantly increased. Across Canada, there are criminal and civil responses to this form of violence. However, there continue to be significant gaps in law and access to justice for victims/survivors of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). This lecture will provide an overview of the various forms of TFGBV and the existing laws that address them. It will then examine potential avenues for legal reform, including more responsive options for victims/survivors of non-consensual distribution of intimate images and the regulation of social media content moderation. 

Bio

Assistant Professor Suzie Dunn, Civil, Criminal, and Administrative Solutions to Technology-Facilitated Violence

Suzie Dunn is an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law. Her research focuses on technology-facilitated violence, the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, deepfakes, and impersonation in digital spaces. In 2018, Prof. Dunn served as a policy advisor with the Digital Inclusion Lab at Global Affairs Canada. In this capacity, she assisted in drafting two international commitments to end gender-based violence in digital contexts, including the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s resolution titled “Accelerating Efforts to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls: Preventing and Responding to Violence against Women and Girls in Digital Contexts”. Prof. Dunn was also part of the legal team that supported CIPPIC’s intervention in R v Jarvis and R v Downes at the Supreme Court of Canada. Both are key cases in the recent jurisprudence on privacy and image-based abuse. 

Currently, Prof. Dunn is a Senior Fellow with CIGI, where she has undertaken a project examining technology-facilitated violence across 18 countries. She works with the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund as an advisory committee member to address issues related to technology-facilitated violence. 

More information: jennifer.raso [at] mcgill.ca