Table Of ContentAn important collected work that brings together some of the broader, social and
criminological perspectives on cybercrime in its broadest sense. A welcome vic-
tim-centric perspective is prevalent throughout and should provide food for
thought for both scholars in the area but also, perhaps more importantly, those
who deal with these problems in their professional lives.
Andy Phippen, Professor of Social Responsibility in IT, Plymouth
Graduate School of Management and Plymouth Business School,
Plymouth University, UK
Cybercrime and its Victims is a welcome, victim-centred addition to the growing
literature on cybercrime. Cybercrime is complex to understand, detect, and
combat, and is constantly evolving. But what is even harder is protecting those
millions of innocent victims who are affected by it, in one form or another.
Through this collection, Martellozzo and Jane show how both adults and children
are victimised online. Regardless of where they live, at some point of their lives,
anyone may be subjected to cyberbullying, online sexual grooming, or online
racial discrimination, or they may be targeted as a result of personal information
they have shared online. It is our responsibility as researchers and professionals
to continue to explore the ever-changing world of cyber space and to ensure the
findings have an impact on policy, education and possibly behaviour.
Massimiliano Frassi, CEO, Prometeo, Bergamo, Italy
In Cybercrime and its Victims Elena Martellozzo and Emma Jane bring together
a coherent collection of academic contributions that engage head-on with the
ugly side of human behaviour on the internet. This collection uniquely focuses
upon the cybercrime victim and in so doing, extinguishes the romance of techno-
logy by exposing the many callous ways in which cybercriminals can use it to
exploit their victims.
David S. Wall, Professor of Criminology at the Centre for Criminal Justice
Studies, School of Law, University of Leeds, UK
Cybercrime and its Victims
The last twenty years have seen an explosion in the development of information techno-
logy, to the point that people spend a major portion of their waking life in online spaces.
While there are enormous benefits associated with this technology, there are also risks
that can affect the most vulnerable in our society but also the most confident. Cybercrime
and its Victims explores the social construction of violence and victimisation in online
spaces and brings together scholars from many areas of inquiry, including criminology,
sociology, and cultural, media, and gender studies.
The book is organised thematically into five parts. Part I addresses some broad con-
ceptual and theoretical issues. Part II is concerned with issues relating to sexual violence,
abuse, and exploitation, as well as to sexual expression online. Part III addresses issues
related to race and culture. Part IV addresses concerns around cyberbullying and online
suicide, grouped together as ‘social violence’. The final part argues that victims of cyber-
crime are, in general, neglected and not receiving the recognition and support they need
and deserve. It concludes that, in the volatile and complex world of cyberspace, continued
awareness- raising is essential for bringing attention to the plight of victims. It also argues
that there needs to be more support of all kinds for victims, as well as an increase in the
exposure and punishment of perpetrators.
Drawing on a range of pressing contemporary issues such as online grooming, sexting,
cyberhate, cyberbullying, and online radicalisation, this book examines how cyberspace
makes us more vulnerable to crime and violence, how it gives rise to new forms of sur-
veillance and social control, and how cybercrime can be prevented.
Elena Martellozzo is a criminologist and senior lecturer at Middlesex University, UK.
She is also an Associate Senior Researcher for the Centre for Trauma and Abuse Studies.
She works extensively with children and young people, sex offenders and practitioners.
Her research includes exploring children and young people’s online behaviour, the ana-
lysis of sexual grooming, online sexual exploitation and police practice in the area of
child sexual abuse.
Emma A. Jane is a Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the University of New
South Wales, Australia. Misogyny online, cyberhate, internet mobs, digital vigilantism
(“digilantism”), and non- legislative interventions for technology- related crime are the
current foci of her ongoing research into the social and ethical implications of emerging
technologies. In 2016, the public benefit of her research into misogyny online was recog-
nised when she was named the Anne Dunn Scholar of the Year.
Routledge Studies in Crime and Society
19 Men, Masculinities and Violence 26 Cybercrime Through an
An ethnographic study Interdisciplinary Lens
Anthony Ellis Edited by Thomas J. Holt
20 Order and Conflict in Public 27 Domestic Violence in
Space International Context
Edited by Mattias De Backer, Edited by Diana Scharff Peterson
Lucas Melgaço, Georgiana Varna and Julie A. Schroeder
and Francesca Menichelli
28 Child Trafficking in the EU
21 Policing, Port Security and Policing and Protecting Europe’s
Crime Control Most Vulnerable
An Ethnography of the Port Pete Fussey and Paddy Rawlinson
Securityscape
Yarin Eski 29 Resettlement of Sex Offenders
after Custody
22 Organised Crime in European Circles of Support and
Businesses Accountability
Edited by Ernesto Savona, David Thompson and Terry Thomas
Michele Riccardi and with Susanne Karstedt
Giulia Berlusconi
30 Cybercrime and its Victims
23 Regulation and Social Control of Edited by Elena Martellozzo and
Incivilities Emma A. Jane
Edited by Nina Peršak
31 Gender, Technology and
24 Skinhead History, Identity, and Violence
Culture Edited by Marie Segrave and
Kevin Borgeson and Robin Valeri Laura Vitis
25 Homicide, Gender and 32 Money and the Governance of
Responsibility Punishment
Edited by Sandra Walklate and A Genealogy of the Penal Fine
Kate Fitz-G ibbon Patricia Faraldo Cabana
Cybercrime and its Victims
Edited by Elena Martellozzo and
Emma A. Jane
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 selection and editorial matter, Elena Martellozzo and Emma A.
Jane; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Elena Martellozzo and Emma A. Jane to be identified as the
authors of the editorial matter, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-63944-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-63719-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Wearset Ltd, Tyne and Wear, Boldon
To our children: Alice, Leonardo and Lorenzo, future ‘netizens’
of cyberspace.
Contents
List of contributors xi
Foreword xiv
Acknowledgements xvi
Introduction: victims of cybercrime on the small ‘i’ internet 1
EMMA A. JANE AND ELENA MARTELLOZZO
ParT I
Conceptual issues 25
1 Victims of cybercrime: definitions and challenges 27
NICOLE A VINCENT
2 Theorising power online 43
CHRIS BRICKELL
ParT II
Sexual violence, abuse, and exploitation 59
3 Gendered cyberhate, victim-b laming, and why the internet
is more like driving a car on a road than being naked in
the snow 61
EMMA A. JANE
4 Sexting in context: understanding gendered sexual media
practices beyond inherent ‘risk’ and ‘harm’ 79
AMY SHIELDS DOBSON
