Higher proportion of men than women report online abuse in survey

More Australian men than women report experiencing online abuse or harassment, a new study shows – though some are significantly more likely to be targeted than others.

The digital security firm Norton released the results of an online survey of just over 1,000 Australian men on Tuesday, which showed that 54% of respondents had experienced some form of abuse or harassment online. Among men under 30, the reported incidence was 78%.

Both rates were slightly higher than indicated in a companion study carried out by Norton of Australian women released in March, which found that nearly half – and 76% under 30 – had experienced online abuse.

But only 53% of men of all ages said online harassment was a serious problem, compared with 70% of women.

Mark Gorrie, the director of Norton by Symantec in the Pacific region, said the data showed online harassment was not gender-specific, with rates among both men and women aged between 18 and 29 “surprisingly high”.

Some groups of men were “clearly more likely to be subjected to harassment” than others, he said.

For the 31% of respondents who belonged to religious minorities, online abuse was a serious problem, while men with physical or intellectual disabilities had it referenced in one in seven cases of online harassment.

Among gay, bisexual and transgender men, 23% were attacked over their sexual orientation, compared with only 7% of heterosexual men.

There were differences in the nature of the abuse directed at men and women, Gorrie said.

“Obviously the difference, once you delve into that data, is that with females there’s more gender-based or physical appearance-based harassment.”

The survey of men found that women were twice as likely to be attacked purely because of their gender. One in four serious and violent threats directed at women were related to their gender, compared with one in 16 for men.

Men were most often subjected to abuse and insults (34%), trolling (29%) and malicious gossip or rumours (27%). Those under 30 were overrepresented in all 14 categories, but also spent the most time online of any demographic.

More than one in five respondents (21%) aged between 18 and 29 had been the victims of “doxing” (posting personal information about other people without their consent) and graphic sexual harassment, while 19% had been threatened with sexual violence or rape, and 18% had been victims of “sextortion” – a significantly higher percentage than for other age groups.

But twice as many women (14%) rated sextortion, graphic sexual harassment, threats of sexual violence and cyberstalking among their worst experiences online than men (7%).

Men and women also differed in their responses to the abuse. Gorrie said a “‘she’ll be right’ … more relaxed” response was prominent among male victims, though a small percentage threatened physical violence or were violent.

Women were more likely to respond to online abuse and harassment emotionally as well as to report serious instances to police.

Georgie Harman, the chief execution of beyondblue – which collaborated with Norton on the study – said online harassment could have a lasting impact on both men and women, but men were less likely to seek help with their mental health.

“They think they’re supposed to be tough and self-reliant,” she said. “Negative online experiences that have an impact on men’s mental health can be hard for them to identify and acknowledge, and so we often don’t realise how detrimental cyberbullying and online harassment can be until it’s too late.”

Gorrie said the findings of both studies reflected the need to maintain “good online hygiene” with secure privacy settings and regularly updated passwords.

He recommended that victims of online abuse and harassment did not respond to perpetrators, but recorded instances of abuse so that they could be reported to the relevant platforms and, if appropriate, authorities.