TikTok as a Platform for Survivors of Sexualized Violence to Share their Stories

Background

TikTok is an emerging social media platform that is particularly popular among young adults and children. The company that developed the software, ByteDance, describes the mission of the app as “to in inspire creativity and bring joy” (TikTok, 2020). As of October 2020, TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform. It now has 1.5 billion active users and 315 million installs in the first quarter of 2020, which is more users than any other app has achieved in a single quarter (Weimann & Masri, 2020). Demographic analysis revealed that 41% of users are between 16 and 24 years of age, with 90% of these users logging into the app daily (Weimann & Masri, 2020). Further, in the short time this app has existed, the amount of “likes” it has gathered from its users has surpassed that of other popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat (Weimann & Masri, 2020). There are many styles and formats of videos commonly seen on TikTok. Some of the most watched videos include lip-synching and dancing.

TikTok may provide survivors of sexualized violence (SV) an outlet and the ability to share their stories. TikTok has accumulated a large number of active participants, particularly between the ages of 16-24; the impacts of social campaigns aimed at education about SV--and the ability for this platform to be used in this capacity—is promising and understudied.

 Recounting emotional stories has been shown to be therapeutic, leading to improvements in mental and physical health (Pennebaker, 2000). Breaking the silence on SV has also fostered solidarity amongst survivors, which often builds common ground through a shared understanding of trauma (Rogers, 2018).

 Some studies have demonstrated that story-telling may be a more powerful tool for educating and convincing an audience compared to rational arguments, statistics, and facts (Kaufman, 2003). One study found that since the #MeToo online movement went viral, creating an environment in which stories of SV could be shared, around 40 percent of young men responded that the movement had changed the way they interact with potential romantic relationships and 25 percent of the young women participants reported noticing changes in men’s behaviour toward women (Zeilinger, 2018). These preliminary studies and analyses demonstrate the great potential for social media and TikTok as tool for education. Overall, storytelling is essential in rewriting and challenging the dominant scripts that normalize SV and blame victims (Rogers, 2018). In an online setting, storytelling may be more accessible, comfortable, and safer for survivors to share and speak about their experiences (Johansen, 2005). Despite this progress, barriers are still in place that prevent survivors of SV from sharing their stories. Society remains deeply rooted in misogyny, and many people unknowingly bear a patriarchal mindset that allows voices to be silenced (Bhattacharyya, 2018).

The focus of this commentary is to analyze both the style of videos that survivors of SV use to share their stories on TikTok, as well as discuss the data analytics of 14 TikTok creators who have shared experiences of SV.

My Positionality

My dual role as the researcher in this project as well as a survivor of sexualized violence allows me to be better suited to perform this research. I share the collective anger, shame, and guilt that many individuals have shared via social media. I remain grateful and admire the courage, bravery, and strength of all individuals who share their stories. I reside in the pain that many express through their stories, in hopes of raising awareness and making others feel less alone. I hope that by conducting academic research in this field, we can  encourage conversation and inspire meaningful change, so that survivors are not met with shame, but rather empathy, compassion, and love.

What I did

I used a passive internet-based ethnography methodology in a naturalistic inquiry to examine and develop a preliminary commentary on the TikTok platform. The benefits of this methodology included removing the barrier of geographical location, and allowing international sampling and global perspectives to be more accessible, which is particularly useful when examining social media trends (Keim-Mappass, 2014).  Keim-Mappass et al. (2014) reported that participants in their internet-based ethnographic study were able to discuss many topics openly that they may have difficulty discussing in traditional face-to-face qualitative interviews, such as troubling or sensitive topics.

The sample includes individuals between the ages of 16-24, as many users on TikTok fall into this category (Weimann & Masri, 2020). I analyzed publicly available videos, comments, and other statistical features (i.e. number of views and “likes”) under specific hashtags, including; #SexualViolence, #SexualAssault, #SexualAssaultSurvivors, #RapeSurvivor, and #Consent. I also evaluated different viral sensations, including the #MeToo movement and #DenimDay. All data is representative of numbers current in November 2020.

It should also be noted that this commentary does not aim to place value on the number of likes, views, comments, and shares a post may receive. All survivors who share their stories show immense bravery and courage in doing so. This commentary simply aims to bring attention to the scope and vast numbers of individuals to which these videos and acts of strength may reach.

 What I found

Through the quite limited quantity of hashtags and viral trends analyzed in this paper, around 800 million views and 15 million likes were accumulated. This may be a result of both the great number of users on the platform as well as the TikTok algorithm that caters the users feed towards previous interests and current popular videos on the platform (Anderson, 2020). The following tables summarizes the data I complied on the top two more popular videos on the hashtags analyzed.

Table 1. The likes, comments, shares, and views of the top two videos under the #MeToo and #DenimDay viral hashtags.

*= comments disabled on the video

K= thousands

M= millions

Table 2. The likes, comments, shares, and views of the top two videos under the #SexualViolence, #SexualAssault, #SexualAssaultSurvivors, #RapeSurvivor, and #Consent hashtags.

Why are these findings important?

Throughout the 14 TikTok videos analyzed in this commentary, many different styles and formats of video were observed. The range included dancing with on-screen text, lip-synching with on-screen text, and re-enactments of stories. Interestingly, no videos of the creator themselves speaking were observed in this study. This finding challenges traditional means of story-telling, whereby one is verbally accounting their experience to a researcher, camera, or other person (Bhattacharyya, 2018). Future research is needed to examine how alternate methods of story-telling may impact the experience of survivors of SV sharing their stories, and how effective different methods of story-telling may be in fostering a sense of solidarity among survivors of SV and changing dominant scripts about SV.

Overall, in just the few specific tags that were analyzed, there was a very large quantity of interaction received. It should be noted that the hashtags analyzed are not comprehensive of all content on the app related to SV, and there are also videos that exist that have no hashtags related to SV. TikTok may be a promising avenue for survivors of SV to share their stories, connect with other survivors, and foster a sense of solidarity. In bravely sharing their stories on TikTok, these creators are educating millions of people, which may help dismantle rape culture.

Nicole Smith

Nicole recently completed her undergraduate degree at Dalhousie with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Immunology, a Minor in Health Studies, and a certificate in Indigenous Studies. She conducted an independent research project with Dr. Matt Numer in the Fall of 2020. Nicole will be pursuing her Master’s of Clinical Sciences in Applied Health Sciences at the University of Western Ontario beginning in September 2021.

 References

Bhattacharyya, R. (2018). # Metoo Movement: An Awareness Campaign. ​International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change​, ​3​(4).

Kaufman, B. (2003). Stories that sell, stories that tell: effective storytelling can strengthen an organization's bonds with all of its stakeholders.(Communication). ​Journal of Business Strategy​, ​24​(2), 11-16.

Pennebaker, J. W. (2000). Telling stories: The health benefits of narrative. ​Literature and medicine​, ​19​(1), 3-18.

Rogers, K. (2018). ​Honouring the stories of student-survivors: trauma informed practice in post-secondary sexualized violence policy review​(Doctoral dissertation).

Rotenberg, C., & Cotter, A. (2018). Police-reported sexual assaults in Canada before and after #MeToo, 2016 and 2017. ​Statistics Canada.

Snowden, D. (1999). Story telling: an old skill in a new context. ​Business information review​, 16​(1), 30-37.

Weimann, G., & Masri, N. (2020). Research note: Spreading hate on TikTok. ​Studies in Conflict & Terrorism​, 1-14.

Climate Change, Women, and Mental Health: Preliminary Results from a Scoping Review

Since the early 2000’s, researchers have found the mental health impacts of climate change to be as relevant to human experience as the physical health impacts [1,2,3]. Both extreme weather events (floods, wildfires, storms, and heat waves) and chronic weather pattern changes (sea level rise, melting permafrost and ice, and drought) have been shown to negatively impact mental health [2,3,4]. While no one can be certain that any given extreme weather event is caused by climate change, it is understood that climate change increases the intensity and frequency of such disasters [5]. Mental health impacts such as feelings of fatalism, eco-anxiety (intense fear for the future), and solastalgia (a homesickness while at home) have been linked to the knowledge and awareness of climate change [1].

Although this blog post focuses on the experiences of women as a marginalized population, it should be noted that people of colour, immigrants, seniors, youth, people living in poverty, people with pre-existing health conditions, and Indigenous peoples are all at high risk of climate impacts [2,6]. All people listed could identify as women, which brings us to the importance of how different marginalities can intersect with each other in addition to the threat of climate change [7]. Although the physical impacts of climate change on women are well documented (worsening asthma symptoms due to poor air quality, higher rates of heat stroke, food and water insecurity), less is known about the mental health impacts [2,8]. Thus, a thorough review of the literature was completed (a scoping review). Through this review, it was found that climate change is impacting women’s mental health worldwide in a number of ways. The themes which emerged from the review are italicized below.

Several studies found climate change to be associated with psychological disorders and negative emotions in women. For example, anxiety, worry, and stress in particular, were found to be correlated with the changing climate [9, 10]. This worry and anxiety were related to climate related food scarcity [11], health and safety of children during and after extreme weather events [12], and concern for the wellbeing of other women due to the hardship that climate change entails for rural women in particular [13]. Feelings of intense sadness and major depressive disorder were also prevalent in women after they had experienced an extreme weather event, or who were experiencing a severe change in weather pattern [4,14]. Another theme that came out of the review was the increase in gender-based violence (GBV) after extreme weather events [15, 16, 17]. Multiple studies found increases in GBV after well-known disasters such as Hurricane Katrina [14] and the 2014 Alberta Flood [15]. Increases in GBV were found to increase the risk for major depressive disorder, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation [15].

Women’s mental health was also found to be harmed by their burden of care and responsibilities for others. Studies showed that women will often put their family’s needs first not only in the aftermath of a disaster but in times of resource scarcity brought on by climate change (often drought or ice melting) by skipping meals or reducing their portion sizes [8,11]. One study also noted how, because of women’s care taking obligations they can be prevented from contributing to community-level decision-making concerning climate change, resulting in their specific needs being left out [17]. Finally, women’s connection to the land, culture, and traditions are being put at risk by climate change, which negatively impacts their mental health [18, 19, 20]. One study described the beloved connection between sea ice and Inuit women, how the sea ice—now melting earlier and forming later than historical trends—provides such important traditional and emotional connections to culture [18, 19]. Women reported mental, spiritual, emotional, cultural, and social health benefits from going off on the sea ice [18, 19], noting that the ice is key to their way of living, and that different places connect them to unique cultural traditions and histories [19]. Women often reported a deep attachment to the land; this connection was deeply troubling in the context of changing landscapes and the resultant loss of family traditions [20].

It is clear that climate impacts on mental health are gendered. The ways in which we stop greenhouses gases from warming the planet and the ways in which we adapt to the already changed environment need to be gendered as well. Women’s health and safety needs to be protected before, during, and after extreme weather events, as well as during times where changing weather patterns impact daily life. It is imperative that we keep working to decrease existing inequities so that marginalized groups around the world fare better through the climate crisis.

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Kathryn Stone

Kathryn is the Co-President of WHIG. She is a first-year Master of Art’s student in Health Promotion. Her research looks at the impacts of climate change on the mental health of young women in Nova Scotia.

References

1.     Albrecht, G. (2006). Solastalgia. Alternatives Journal, 32(4/5), 34-36.

2.     Hayes, K., & Poland, B. (2018). Addressing Mental Health in a Changing Climate: Incorporating Mental Health Indicators into Climate Change and Health Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(9), 1806. doi:10.3390/ijerph15091806

3.     Willox, A. C., Stephenson, E., Allen, J., Bourque, F., Drossos, A., Elgarøy, S., ... & MacDonald, J. P. (2015). Examining relationships between climate change and mental health in the Circumpolar North. Regional Environmental Change, 15(1), 169-182. doi: 10.1007/s10113-014-0630-z

4.     Mamun, M. A., Huq, N., Papia, Z. F., Tasfina, S., & Gozal, D. (2019). Prevalence of depression among Bangladeshi village women subsequent to a natural disaster: A pilot study. Psychiatry Research, 276, 124–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2019.05.007

5.     Costello, A.; Abbas, M.; Allen, A; Ball, S; Bell, s; Bellamy, R;…Patterson, C (2007). Managing the health effects of climate change. The Lancet. Vol. 373(9676), P1693-1733 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60935-1\

6.     Petrasek Macdonald, Cunsolo Willox, Ford, Shiwak, & Wood. (2015). Protective factors for mental health and well-being in a changing climate: Perspectives from Inuit youth in Nunatsiavut, Labrador. Social Science & Medicine, 141, 133-141. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.017

7.     Kaijser, A., & Kronsell, A. (2014). Climate change through the lens of intersectionality. Environmental politics, 23(3), 417-433. doi: 10.1080/09644016.2013.835203

8.     Alston M. (2015). Gendered outcomes in post-disaster sites: public policy and resource distribution. Simon Fraser University – Engaging the World.

9.     Dean, J. G., & Stain, H. J. (2010). Mental health impact for adolescents living with prolonged drought. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 18(1), 32–37. aph.

10.  Sundblad, E.-L., Biel, A., & Gärling, T. (2007). Cognitive and affective risk judgements related to climate change. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27(2), 97–106. psyh. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2007.01.003

11.  Beaumier MC, Ford JD, Beaumier, M. C., & Ford, J. D. (2010). Food insecurity among Inuit women exacerbated by socioeconomic stresses and climate change. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 101(3), 196–201. c8h.

12.  Ajibade, I., McBean, G., & Bezner-Kerr, R. (2013). Urban flooding in Lagos, Nigeria: Patterns of vulnerability and resilience among women. Global Environmental Change, 23(6), 1714-1725.

13.  Boetto, H., & McKinnon, J. (2013). Rural Women and Climate Change: A Gender-inclusive Perspective. Australian Social Work, 66(2), 234–247. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2013.780630

14.  Chen, N.-T., Lin, P.-H., & Guo, Y.-L. L. (2019). Long-term exposure to high temperature associated with the incidence of major depressive disorder. Science of the Total Environment, 659, 1016–1020. aph.

15.  Anastario, M., Shehab, N., & Lawry, L. (2009). Increased gender-based violence among women internally displaced in Mississippi 2 years post–Hurricane Katrina. Disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 3(1), 18-26.

16.  Hayes, K. (2019). Responding to a Changing Climate: An Investigation of the Psychosocial Consequences of Climate Change and Community-based Mental Health Responses in High River (Doctoral dissertation).

17.  Demetriades, J., & Esplen, E. (2008). The Gender Dimensions of Poverty and Climate Change Adaptation. IDS Bulletin, 39(4), 24–31. aph.

18.  Durkalec, A. (2013). Understanding the role of environment for indigenous health: A case study of sea ice as a place of health and risk in the Inuit Community of Nain, Nunatsiavut.

19.  Durkalec, A., Furgal, C., Skinner, M. W., & Sheldon, T. (2015). Climate change influences on environment as a determinant of Indigenous health: Relationships to place, sea ice, and health in an Inuit community. Social science & medicine, 136, 17-26.

20.  du Bray, M., Wutich, A., Larson, K. L., White, D. D., & Brewis, A. (2019). Anger and Sadness: Gendered Emotional Responses to Climate Threats in Four Island Nations. Cross-Cultural Research, 53(1), 58–86. aph.

Undergraduate Students’ Attitudes, Opinions, Beliefs, and Practices of Verbal Sexual Consent

Background

Rates of campus sexual assaults continue to rise, with university students being at a significantly higher risk of experiencing sexual assault compared to the general population (1–3). College women ages 18-25 are three times more likely to experience sexual violence than women in any other age group, and similarly aged women who aren’t college students (4,5). These alarming rates make it clear that sexual consent is lacking in university students’ sexual encounters (6). Typically, university students rely on non-verbal cues to obtain sexual consent; however, relying on non-verbal cues and body language as indicators of consent opposed to verbal consent has been found to contribute to misinterpretations and high rates of sexual assault (10).

Why did I do it?

It is crucial to explore how undergraduate (UG) students interpret and understand sexual consent, as well as their overall opinions, beliefs, and attitudes regarding sexual consent as it directly impacts sexual assault. This project was conducted in attempt to combat the current trends of campus sexual assaults, and further understand and explore current UG university students’ beliefs, attitudes, opinions, and practices of verbal sexual consent.

How did I do it?

The study was conducted in a fourth-year human sexuality course at Dalhousie University. The course is offered to students in their second year of undergraduate study at Dalhousie as an open elective, meaning that students from any discipline are able to enroll. The project aimed to answer two main research questions:

1.     What are the current prevailing attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and practices of undergraduate university students in relation to verbal consent?

2.     To what extent do undergraduate university students believe verbal sexual consent always needs to be used during sexual encounters?

Qualitative data were collected from 31 students enrolled in the human sexuality course at Dalhousie University using open-ended questions through the interactive course textbook. Students answered the question “Do you believe sexual consent should always require verbal consent? Why or why not?” Students responses were analyzed using thematic analysis.

What did I find?

Findings of this study demonstrated the many complexities surrounding verbal sexual consent. Four key themes emerged from the data.

Relationship with partner. Among the complexities reported by students, the most common response was that the quality of their relationship informed whether they felt the need to obtain or give verbal consent. Students felt that familiarity with their sexual partner influenced whether verbal consent should be used. Students repeatedly explained that verbal consent should be used if partners were not familiar with each other, such as if partners recently entered a new relationship or if this was their first sexual encounter. Students felt that within long-term exclusive relationships verbal consent was not always required, due to an understanding of an on-going basis of consent within relationships and increased comfortability and trust with their partner.

Verbal consent “ruins the mood.” Students felt that verbal consent was not something that contributes to a comfortable sexual encounter. Many students explained that a barrier to using verbal consent was that it is perceived as awkward or uncomfortable. Additionally, many students felt that verbal consent was not perceived as attractive. Students tried to combat the current negative social perceptions of sexual consent by using alternative phrasing, such as “do you want to?” or “are you okay with this?” as they felt that this was more realistic and easier to achieve.

Reliance on non-verbal cues. This study found that typically, UG students rely on non-verbal cues as the primary method of obtaining sexual consent. Participants felt that verbal consent was not always required within sexual encounters as many believed that a partner’s non-verbal cues were sufficient in determining if their partner was consenting or not. Students reported determining consent based on their observation of body language and whether or not their partner was reciprocating sexual acts. Some students felt that verbal consent may be coerced or not genuine and viewed non-verbal cues to be more indicative of partners consent.

Acknowledging importance of verbal consent. Despite many participants stating that they did not feel that verbal consent was needed in all sexual encounters, many students understood the importance of verbal consent. Participants felt that verbal consent caused less misinterpretations, ensured that partners were aware of the other’s intensions, and reduced the likelihood of engaging in non-consensual sex where one partner assumes they gained consent from their partner based on their non-verbal cues. These views greatly contradicted other students’ beliefs that “you just know” when a partner is consenting to sex. It is important to consider that UG students’ beliefs and practices may contradict each other, as many students believed that verbal consent should be used but stated that they did not use it in their personal sexual encounters.

Why is this research important?

This research project provides an opportunity to better understand UG students’ attitudes, opinions, views, and practices of verbal sexual consent. By better understanding existing beliefs around consent, more informed campus sexual assault and sexual consent policies can be created to combat the continuous rise of campus sexual assaults. This research can be used to promote effective university policies that promote verbal consent and create a dialogue with students on how to integrate verbal consent within their sexual encounters.

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Brittany Matchett

Brittany is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Dalhousie University in the school of Health and Human Performance. Brittany will be pursuing a Master of Health Promotion at Dalhousie in September 2020.

References

1. Marcantonio TL, Jozkowski KN, Lo W-J. Beyond “just saying no”: A preliminary evaluation of strategies college students use to refuse sexual activity. Archives of sexual behavior. 2018;47(2):341–351.

2. Pugh B, Becker P. Exploring definitions and prevalence of verbal sexual coercion and its relationship to consent to unwanted sex: Implications for affirmative consent standards on college campuses. Behavioral sciences. 2018;8(8):69.

3. Senn CY, Eliasziw M, Barata PC, Thurston WE, Newby-Clark IR, Radtke HL, et al. Sexual violence in the lives of first-year university women in Canada: no improvements in the 21st century. BMC women’s health. 2014;14(1):135.

4. Fantasia HC, Fontenot HB, Sutherland MA, John TJL-S. Forced sex and sexual consent among college women. Journal of forensic nursing. 2015;11(4):223–231.

5. McDaniel MC, Rodriguez DN. Undergraduate men’s self-reports of sexual assault and perceptions of college campus acquaintance rape. Journal of interpersonal violence. 2017;0886260517743552.

6. Shumlich EJ, Fisher WA. Affirmative sexual consent? Direct and unambiguous consent is rarely included in discussions of recent sexual interactions. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. 2018;27(3):248–260.

7. Brady G, Lowe P, Brown G, Osmond J, Newman M. ‘All in all it is just a judgement call’: issues surrounding sexual consent in young people’s heterosexual encounters. Journal of Youth Studies. 2018;21(1):35–50.

8. Jozkowski KN, Marcantonio TL, Hunt ME. College students’ sexual consent communication and perceptions of sexual double standards: A qualitative investigation. Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health. 2017;49(4):237–244.

9. Jozkowski KN, Peterson ZD, Sanders SA, Dennis B, Reece M. Gender differences in heterosexual college students’ conceptualizations and indicators of sexual consent: Implications for contemporary sexual assault prevention education. The Journal of Sex Research. 2014;51(8):904–916.

10. Hermann C, Liang CT, DeSipio BE. Exploring sexual consent and hostile masculine norms using the theory of planned behavior. Psychology of Men & Masculinity. 2018;19(4):491.