CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 44Gender, Feminism, and MediaStalking, Cyberstalking, and HarassmentMisinformation and Its Impacts

Deepfakes and Harm to Women

Open access
Laffier, Jennifer, Rehman, Aalyia·2023·Journal of Digital Life and Learning
DOI 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

As deepfake technologies become more sophisticated and accessible to the broader online community, their use puts women participating in digital spaces at increased risk of experiencing violence online and abuse. In a ‘post-truth’ era, the ability to discern what is real and what is fake allows malevolent actors to manipulate public opinion or ruin the social reputation of individuals to wider audiences. While the scholarly research on the topic is sparse, this study explored the harm women have experienced in technology and deepfakes. Results of the study suggest that deepfakes are a relatively new method to deploy gender-based violence and erode women’s autonomy in their on-and-offline world. This study highlights the unique harms for women that are felt on both an individual and systemic level and the necessity for further inquiry into online harm through deepfakes and victims’ experiences.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218

Cites

7 of 7 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Laffier and Rehman highlighted that victims frequently suffer job loss, social exclusion, and severe mental health outcomes.

    “Laffier and Rehman have further highlighted the psychological and reputational consequences of these abuses, noting that victims frequently suffer job loss, social exclusion, and severe mental health outcomes (Laffier & Rehman, 2023).”

    From Deepfakes, Democracy, and the Ethics of Synthetic Media: A Synthesis of the SOLARIS Project (2026) · cites this paper as Laffier & Rehman, 2023

    The Discussion and Recommendations section describes possible mental-health, reputational, social, and professional consequences. The Image-Based Sexual Abuse in Women section reports that victims may change jobs and lose close relationships, but it does not establish frequent job loss; the paper generally frames these outcomes as possibilities rather than frequent occurrences. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 49

  1. Abidin, C. (2013). Cyber-BFFs*: Assessing women's 'perceived interconnectedness' in Singapore's commercial lifestyle blog industry *Best Friends Forever. Global Media Journal: Australian Edition, 7(1), 1-20. https://www.hca.westernsydney.edu.au/gmjau/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/GMJAU_V7- 1_Cyber-BFFs.pdf
  2. Acar, K. V. (2016). Sexual extortion of children in cyberspace. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.163398 · DOI
  3. Albahar, M., & Almalki, J. (2019). Deepfakes: Threats and countermeasures systematic review. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 97(22), 3242-3250. http://www.jatit.org/volumes/Vol97No22/7Vol97No22.pdf Amnesty International. (2017, November 20). Amnesty reveals alarming impact of online abuse against women. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2017/11/amnesty- reveals-alarming-impact-of-online-abuse-against-women/
  4. Bareket, O., & Shnabel, N. (2020). Domination and objectification: Men's motivation for dominance over women affects their tendency to sexually objectify women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44(1), 28-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684319871913 · DOI
  5. Berdahl, J. L. (2007). Harassment based on sex: Protecting social status in the context of gender hierarchy. Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 641-658. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.24351879 · DOI
  6. Chesney, R., & Citron, D. (2019a). Deep fakes: A looming challenge for privacy, democracy, and national security. California Law Review, 107, 1753-1820. https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38RV0D15J · DOI · Paper page
  7. Citron, D. K. (2014). Hate crimes in cyberspace. Harvard University Press.
  8. Cole, S. (2019). This horrifying app undresses a photo of any woman with a single click. Motherboard -VICE. https://www.vice.com/en/article/kzm59x/deepnude-app-creates- fake-nudes-of-any-woman Journal of Digital Life and Learning 2023, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-21 DOI: 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218 -14- Davidson, J., Livingstone, S., Jenkins, S., Gekoski, A., Choak, C., Ike, T., & Phillips, K. (2019). Adult online hate, harassment and abuse: A rapid evidence assessment. UK Council for Internet Safety. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/811450/Adult_Online_Harms_Report_2019.pdf
  9. Dennehy, R., Meaney, S., Cronin, M., & Arensman, E. (2020). The psychosocial impacts of cybervictimisation and barriers to seeking social support: Young people's perspectives. Children and Youth Services Review, 111, 104872. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104872 · DOI
  10. Eaton, A. A., & McGlynn, C. (2020). The psychology of nonconsensual porn: Understanding and addressing a growing form of sexual violence. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 7(2), 190-197. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732220941534 Journal of Digital Life and Learning 2023, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-21 DOI: 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218 -15- Eckert, S. (2018). Fighting for recognition: Online abuse of women bloggers in Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. New Media & Society, 20(4), 1282-1302. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816688457 · DOI
  11. Erlingsson, C., & Brysiewicz, P. (2017). A hands-on guide to doing content analysis. African Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7(3), 93-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2017.08.001 · DOI
  12. Greenhalgh, T., Thorne, S., & Malterud, K. (2018). Time to challenge the spurious hierarchy of systematic over narrative reviews? European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 48(6), e12931. https://doi.org/10.1111/eci.12931 · DOI · Paper page
  13. Gosse, C. (2022). "Don't take on the responsibility of somebody else's fu**ed up behavior": Responding to online abuse in the context of barriers to support. Canadian Journal of Law and Technology, 19(2), 249-275. https://digitalcommons.schulichlaw.dal.ca/cjlt/vol19/iss2/3/
  14. Hess, A. (2017, June 14). Why women aren't welcome on the Internet. Pacific Standard. https://psmag.com/social-justice/women-arent-welcome-internet-72170 Journal of Digital Life and Learning 2023, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-21 DOI: 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218 -16- · DOI
  15. Jane, E. A. (2014). 'Back to the kitchen, cunt': Speaking the unspeakable about online misogyny. Continuum, 28(4), 558-570. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2014.924479 · DOI · Paper page
  16. Jeffrey, C., Peltier, C., & Vannest, K. (2020). The effects of an online psychoeducational workshop to decrease anxiety and increase empowerment in victims of trolling and cyberbullying. Journal of Online Learning Research, 6(3), 265-296. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1290782.pdf
  17. Juntunen, M., & Lehenkari, M. (2021). A narrative literature review process for an academic business research thesis. Studies in Higher Education, 46(2), 330-342. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1630813 · DOI · Paper page
  18. Kaur, R., & Garg, S. (2008). Addressing domestic violence against women: An unfinished agenda. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 33(2), 73-76. https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-0218.40871 · DOI
  19. Kishore, B. (2011). Understanding harassment at workplace through the traditional theory of violence: A case-based approach. Journal of Management & Public Policy, 3(1). http://jmpp.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Bindhu-Kishore.pdf
  20. Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. P. (2007). Electronic bullying among middle school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6), S22-S30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.017 · DOI · Paper page
  21. Langos, C. (2012). Cyberbullying: The challenge to define. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 15(6), 285-289. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2011.0588 · DOI · Paper page
  22. Liggett, R. (2019). Exploring online sextortion. Family & Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, 11(4), 45-56.
  23. Maddocks, S. (2020). 'A deepfake porn plot intended to silence me': Exploring continuities between pornographic and 'political' deep fakes. Porn Studies, 7(4), 415-423. https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2020.1757499 Journal of Digital Life and Learning 2023, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-21 DOI: 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218 -17- · DOI · Paper page
  24. Mantilla, K. (2013). Gendertrolling: Misogyny adapts to new media. Feminist Studies, 39(2), 563-570. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23719068
  25. Masood, M., Nawaz, M., Malik, K. M., Javed, A., Irtaza, A., & Malik, H. (2022). Deepfakes generation and detection: State-of-the-art, open challenges, countermeasures, and way forward. Applied Intelligence, 53, 3974-4026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-022-03766- z · DOI · Paper page
  26. Nadim, M., & Fladmoe, A. (2021). Silencing women? Gender and online harassment. Social Science Computer Review, 39(2), 245-258. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439319865518 · DOI
  27. Namy, S., Carlson, C., O'Hara, K., Nakuti, J., Bukuluki, P., Lwanyaaga, J., Namakula, S., Nanyunja, B., Wainberg, M. L., Naker, D., & Michau, L. (2017). Towards a feminist understanding of intersecting violence against women and children in the family. Social Science & Medicine, 184, 40-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.042 · DOI
  28. Nguyen, T. T., Nguyen, Q. V. H., Nguyen, D. T., Nguyen, D. T., Huynh-The, T., Nahavandi, S., Nguyen T. T., Pham, Q.-V., & Nguyen, C. M. (2022). Deep learning for deepfakes creation and detection: A survey. Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 223, O'Malley, R. L., & Holt, K. M. (2022). Cyber sextortion: An exploratory analysis of different perpetrators engaging in a similar crime. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1-2), 258-283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520909186 · DOI
  29. Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2020). Sextortion among adolescents: Results from a national survey of U.S. youth. Sexual Abuse, 32(1), 30-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063218800469 · DOI · Paper page
  30. Poland, B. (2016). Haters: Harassment, abuse, and violence online. University of Nebraska Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1fq9wdp · DOI
  31. Powell, A., & Henry, N. (2017). Sexual violence in a digital age. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58047-4 · DOI · Paper page
  32. Powell, A., & Henry, N. (2019). Technology-facilitated sexual violence victimization: Results from an online survey of Australian adults. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(17), 3637-3665. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516672055 · DOI
  33. Powell, A., Henry, N., & Flynn, A. (2018). Image-based sexual abuse. In W. S. DeKeseredy & M. Dragiewicz (Eds.), Routledge handbook of critical criminology (pp. 305-315).
  34. Rivers, N. (2017). Postfeminism(s) and the arrival of the fourth wave: Turning tides. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59812-3 · DOI
  35. Royle, S. (2021, January 6). Deepfake porn images still give me nightmares. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55546372 Journal of Digital Life and Learning 2023, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-21 DOI: 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218 -19- Schwartz, O. (2018, November 12). You thought fake news was bad? Deep fakes are where truth goes to die. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/12/deep- fakes-fake-news-truth · DOI
  36. Spivak, R. (2018). " Deepfakes": The newest way to commit one of the oldest crimes. Georgetown Law Technology Review, 3, 339. https://georgetownlawtechreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/3.1-Spivak-pp-339- 400.pdf
  37. Sobieraj, S. (2018). Bitch, slut, skank, cunt: Patterned resistance to women's visibility in digital publics. Information, Communication & Society, 21(11), 1700-1714. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2017.1348535 · DOI
  38. Sparks, B. (2021). A snapshot of image-based sexual abuse (IBSA): Narrating a way forward. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 19(2), 689-704. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178- 021-00585-8 · DOI
  39. Strömbäck, J., Tsfati, Y., Boomgaarden, H., Damstra, A., Lindgren, E., Vliegenthart, R., & Lindholm, T. (2020). News media trust and its impact on media use: Toward a framework for future research. Annals of the International Communication Association, 44(2), 139-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2020.1755338 · DOI
  40. United States Department of Homeland Security. (2019). Increasing threats of deep fake identities. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/increasing_threats_of_deepfake_iden tities_0.pdf 2023, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-21 DOI: 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218 -20- Vaillancourt, T., Faris, R., & Mishna, F. (2017). Cyberbullying in children and youth: Implications for health and clinical practice. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 62(6), 368-373. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743716684791 · DOI · Paper page
  41. Veletsianos, G., Houlden, S., Hodson, J., & Gosse, C. (2018). Women scholars' experiences with online harassment and abuse: Self-protection, resistance, acceptance, and self-blame. New Media & Society, 20(12), 4689-4708. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818781324 · DOI · Paper page
  42. Vera-Gray, F. (2017). 'Talk about a cunt with too much idle time': Trolling feminist research. Feminist Review, 115(1), 61-78. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41305-017-0038-y · DOI
  43. Vitak, J., Chadha, K., Steiner, L., & Ashktorab, Z. (2017). Identifying women's experiences with and strategies for mitigating negative effects of online harassment. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (pp. 1231-1245). https://doi.org/10.1145/2998181.2998337 · DOI
  44. Vyas, S., & Jansen, H. A. (2018). Unequal power relations and partner violence against women in Tanzania: A cross-sectional analysis. BMC Women's Health, 18(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-018-0675-0 · DOI
  45. Watts, L. K., Wagner, J., Velasquez, B., & Behrens, P. I. (2017). Cyberbullying in higher education: A literature review. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 268-274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.038 · DOI
  46. Westerlund, M. (2019). The emergence of deepfake technology: A review. Technology Innovation Management Review, 9(11), 39-52. https://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/1282 · DOI · Paper page
  47. Willard, N. E. (2005). Cyberbullying and cyberthreats: Responding to the challenge of online social aggression, threats, and distress. Research Press.
  48. Wittes, B., Poplin, C., Jurecic, Q., & Spera, C. (2016). Sextortion: Cybersecurity, teenagers, and remote sexual assault. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/research/sextortion- cybersecurity-teenagers-and-remote-sexual-assault/ Journal of Digital Life and Learning 2023, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1-21 DOI: 10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218 -21- · DOI
  49. Zhang, Y., & Wildemuth, B. M. (2009). Qualitative analysis of content. In B. M. Wildemuth (Ed.), Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science (2nd ed.; pp. 318-329). Libraries Unlimited.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Laffier, J., & Rehman, A.
Affiliations
Ontario Tech University (CA)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Digital Life and Learning
Publisher
University of Ontario Institute of Technology Library
Published
2023-06-24
Volume
3
Issue
1
Pages
1-21
ISSN
2564-3185 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.51357/jdll.v3i1.218
OpenAlex
W4381950363
Cited by
44
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 2
FWCI
18.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Journal of Digital Life and Learning (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Feminism, and Media
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Misinformation and Its Impacts
Keywords
deepfakes, online harms, women, gender-based violence, women's autonomy, online abuse, post-truth, disinformation, reputational damage, digital space, victim experiences

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review