Research Article

Violence Against Women

1–14
Technology-facilitated Sexual © The Author(s) 2023

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A Content Analysis of a DOI: 10.1177/10778012231172712
journals.sagepub.com/home/vaw
Website for Victims

Soojeong Kim1 , Eunju Choi2 , and

Jane Dimmitt Champion3

Abstract
Technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) is an emerging form of gender-based
violence. An understanding regarding the circumstance of TFSV and related health
outcomes is limited. This qualitative study analyzed postings from an anonymous
Korean website on which women suffering from TFSV freely posted messages asking
for help and voicing concerns. Victims made efforts to solve problems that remained
unresolved, thereby creating difficulties in their daily lives, and compelling them to
quit jobs or break social relationships. They reported mental health concerns includ-
ing suicide ideation, anxiety, frustration, sleep disorders, and depression. Results infer
the imperative nature of research, intervention, and political action.

Keywords
Technology-facilitated sexual violence, South Korea, qualitative research, mental health

Introduction
Sexual violence is defined as

Any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or
acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any
person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not
limited to home and work. (World Health Organization, 2012, p. 2)

1
School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
2
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
3
School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
Corresponding Author:
Jane Dimmitt Champion, 1710 Red River St., Austin, TX 78712, United States.
Email: jdchampion@mail.nur.utexas.edu
2 Violence Against Women 0(0)

The term sexual violence refers not only to physical injury but also to psychological,
social, and structural problems (Powell & Henry, 2017). With the development of
information technology devices such as smartphones and tablets with which people
access the Internet every day, the sharing of various sexually explicit photographs,
messages, and videos is more common, and has an addictive aspect (Huh, 2017).
Digital technology can also be used as a tool to facilitate sexual-based damage as
Internet-enabled devices are rapidly spreading online communication services.
According to a survey of 4,248 US adults conducted by the National Pew Research
Center, 41% of US adults have been bullied online personally, and 66% have witnessed
bullying (Duggan, 2017).
Despite the growing dominance of sexual violence using digital technology, a con-
sistent, conceptual, and operational definition of the current phenomenon is lacking
(Snaychuk & O’Neill, 2020). Various terms used in previous studies to describe this
recently identified form of sexual violence include, revenge pornography (Hall &
Hearn, 2017), cybervictimization (Reyns et al., 2012), electronic aggression
(Bennett et al., 2011), and electronic harassment (Fenaughty & Harré, 2013).
Recently, the term technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) has emerged to
bridge the gaps among the various terms. According to Powell and Henry (2019),
TFSV is defined as a broad scope of digital sexual harassment that includes online
sexual harassment, gender- and sexuality-based harassment, cyberstalking, image-
based sexual exploitation, and coercion of a victim into an unwanted sexual act in
the online space. Even though there are inevitable redundancies between different
dimensions, Henry and Powell (2018) provided a further explanation of each dimen-
sion. Online sexual harassment, the first dimension, is defined as unwanted sexual
attention in an online space or communications of sexual desires toward another.
Second, gender and sexuality-based harassment refers to a process of harm and dis-
tress, including gender and sexuality-based hate speech, reputation-damaging lies,
rape threats, false accusations of sexual violence, impersonation, and virtual rape.
Cyberstalking is defined as an extension of offline stalking using electronic devices.
Image-based sexual exploitation, also known as revenge pornography, is defined as
the creation, distribution, or threat of distribution of intimate or sexually explicit
images without a person’s consent. Lastly, coercion of a victim into an unwanted
sexual act in the online space is a form of blackmail, bribery, or intimidation, such
as requiring the victim to engage in either online or in-person sex acts or demanding
the release of intimate images or information.
The damage incurred by TFSV victimization is similar to sexual violence victimi-
zation. As with TFSV, sexual violence victimization is associated with adverse psycho-
logical effects such as feelings of hopelessness, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic
stress disorder, and suicidal behaviors (Brake et al., 2019; Coles et al., 2015;
Temple et al., 2007), TFSV victimization has broad, negative impacts on a person’s
well-being. Previous findings indicate that TFSV victimization among adult women
was associated with the same detrimental mental health outcomes as sexual violence
victimization (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ide-
ation) (Bates, 2017; Cripps, 2016; Kamal & Newman, 2016). Champion et al. (2021)
Kim et al. 3

found that TFSV victimization increases suicide risk via a chain of bullying, depres-
sion, and perceived burdensomeness among adult men and women. Despite the simi-
larities in outcomes reported for sexual violence and TFSV studies, victims of TFSV
can be targeted anytime and anywhere, even within the physical safety of their homes,
thereby creating a pervasive sense of threat (Snaychuk & O’Neill, 2020). For this
reason, TFSV victims might experience adverse social and professional consequences,
such as withdrawal from their workplaces or schools and difficulty remaining anony-
mous in communities where personal information was spread (Citron & Franks, 2014).
Korea ranked first in technology usage among 39 countries, with 94% of adults
using smartphones as well as the Internet frequently regardless of education and age
level (Poushter et al., 2018). Of women living in Seoul, Korea in 2019, 43% reported
an experience of TFSV directly or indirectly (Seoul & Seoul Foundation of Women &
Family, 2019). Direct TFSV refers to women who have experienced TFSV firsthand,
and indirect TFSV refers to women who witnessed such violence and were impacted
indirectly because of the idea that they might also be victims. These two types of
victims are different; however, this survey did not separate them. According to a
crime analysis in 2016 by Korean police, the most rapid increase in sexual assault
crimes in the past decade involved “camera-based crimes,” which went from 3.6%
in 2006 to 24.9% in 2015 (Kim & Chung, 2018). Due to rapid propagation in cyber-
space, the permanent deletion of sexual photos or videos is impossible, and victims live
with severe emotional pain. Moreover, as modern people use the Internet and social
media to perform social functions and communicate with others, the damage of
TFSV is considered to be a social killing that causes individuals to shrink socially,
and compels them to live as if they were dead, as they are likely to disappear from
their ordinary lives (Gwon, 2018).
The largest Korean pornographic website, “Soranet,” which included child pornog-
raphy and videos from hidden cameras in public toilets, houses, and hotels, had more
than 1 million members, before the government forced it to close in 2016. The closure
of “Soranet” raised the issue of TFSV in Korean society (Huh, 2017). More than
200,000 Korean individuals requested reform to sexual assault law to strengthen the
punishment of perpetrators, after a female celebrity died in 2019 by suicide, following
threats to disseminate sexual videos obtained by her ex-boyfriend (Lee, 2019). Even
though there was no physical violence, social media is the primary venue for TFSV,
which can lead to death (Facts and figures, 2019). Ironically, according to interviews
with the Korean Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, it is difficult to ascertain
individual situations. This is because victims do not want to reveal themselves and
instead turn to artificial intelligence counselors, the Internet, or other social media to
find help or information rather than human counselors, whom they would have to
see face-to-face (Sowell, 2020). Consequentially, little is currently known about the
prevalence, experiences, and impact of TFSV among victims in the Korean population.
In addition, the victim’s situations and the mental or social consequences of TFSV
remain unclear (Reed et al., 2019). Therefore, considering the limited study, more
research is needed to understand TFSV and its impact on the mental health of TFSV
victims and their day-to-day lives. The purpose of this study was to describe
4 Violence Against Women 0(0)

victims’ responses to TFSV and to understand how TFSV influenced their lives and
mental health. These findings intend to inform health care and policy concerning
TFSV.

Method
This is a qualitative study of a Korean website, which is entirely anonymous and was
accessed publicly in May 2021. The website was opened in 2017 as a “Digital Sexual
Crime Out” and began with an anonymous operator. The website is easily accessible
through Korea’s largest search engine. The purpose of the website is to share
victims’ situations and information and allows users to respond together to the
crime. The website has a bulletin board on which women who suffer from TFSV
are free to post messages asking for help and voicing their concerns. Due to users’ sen-
sitivity to information exposure, the website does not provide their personal informa-
tion or the number of users on the website.
At the time of access in May 2021, there were 255 postings on the bulletin board.
The bulletin board was intended for victims to share their concerns, but because some
users wanted to form a social movement, several social news sources and advertise-
ments were added. After a primary screening, postings unrelated to the bulletin
board, such as news articles and advertisements, were excluded. A total of 54 posts
that were all relevant to TFSV were selected. All data was extracted from the
website and translated into English.
The data analysis for the identification of common themes followed the six-phase
approach of Braun and Clarke (2012). This approach includes (1) familiarizing
oneself with the data, (2) generating initial codes, (3) searching for themes, (4) review-
ing potential themes, (5) defining and naming themes, and (6) producing the report. To
improve the validity of results, the data was analyzed by authors 1 and 2, while author 3
supervised all the analytic processes. The posts and related conversations were then
converted to 54 documents and uploaded to Atlas.ti for further analysis. The analysis
followed a categorizing approach and systematic coding was used to explore large
volumes of textual information without interference to determine trends, patterns, fre-
quency, relationships, structures, and communication discourses. A preliminary code-
book was developed by author 1. Authors 1 and 2 coded all of data separately using
Atlas.ti version 9. The codebook was adjusted as needed, and if there were any discrep-
ancies, discussion among all authors continued until agreement. This study was sub-
mitted to the Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas at Austin for
review and deemed exempt.

Results
General Description of the Data
A total of 54 posts on the bulletin board were relevant to TFSV. The shortest post was
one sentence with 8 words, excluding the title, while the longest post was 584 words.
Kim et al. 5

The numbers of comments on the posts ranged from 0 to 11, with an average of 2.54
comments per post. The post that received the most comments was (#63), about the
victim’s hopelessness. Although she had made several efforts to punish the perpetrator
and delete the sexual video that had been distributed against her will, she just wanted to
disappear. She said, “It’s an infinite repetition. I want to be born again. No, I don’t want
to be reborn. I hope I disappear without pain.” Five comments from other victims
expressed sympathy with her pain, like, “I’m writing comments because it sounds
like my story. I want to die, but I don’t know how, so I’m just spending my days”
and “The writer is in the same situation as me. My identity has also been exposed
and uploaded to illegal pornographic websites every day. There are more victims
besides me. I don’t think it’s a life.”

Five Dimensions of TFSV

Following the classification of TFSV by Henry and Powell (2018), the types of damage
mentioned in each post were classified. Some were classified as duplicates because the
damage they described was seen as an area of overlap, while 14 posts did not reveal the
type of TFSV. The most common type of victimization expressed on this website was
the fourth dimension, image-based sexual exploitation, with 36 posts (Table 1).

Relationship with Perpetrator

Among the 54 posts, 26 posts described the relationship between the victim and the
perpetrator. Fourteen (53.85%) of these 26 posts, described TFSV that was perpetrated
in an intimate relationship (e.g., current boyfriend, ex-boyfriend), while 12 posts
(46.15%) described TFSV perpetrated by strangers. In the intimate relationships,
unwanted distribution of images obtained by hidden camera were prevalent, including
6 of 14 cases. As for those perpetrated by strangers, fake composite photographs on
adult sites were included. Compared to victimization by strangers, victims of intimate
partners often resigned from their jobs, had difficulties in dealing with men, and felt
impulses to harm the perpetrators (Figure 1).

Victims’ Efforts to Resolve This Issue

Many victims started to screen adult websites when they noticed that their intimate pic-
tures or videos had been distributed. If they found their contents in the online space,
they contacted the website operators directly and asked them to delete the pictures
or videos. Some of the victims used a company that helps to delete distributed contents
by paying money. “At first, I paid $8,000 for the removal fee” (#32, reply 1). “A year
ago, I spent $ 3,000 to delete the video” (#49). Deletion companies were created to
erase traces of such posts on the Internet, a new industry in South Korea. Their custom-
ers request help because it is difficult to erase all the traces on their own after unwanted
personal information has been distributed. This service is offered one time or on an
ongoing basis, according to the customers’ requests. However, after it became
6 Violence Against Women 0(0)
Table 1. Frequency of TFSV Dimensions.
Dimensions
Online sexual harassment
Gender- and sexuality-based
harassment
Cyberstalking
Image-based sexual exploitation
Frequency Description
1 One case (#62) was identified as online
sexual harassment; In this case, someone
uploaded the victim’s personal
information, including her photos, to
Tumbler, and the victim suffered sexual
harassment from strangers in the online
space.
4 Four cases were identified as fitting this
dimension. Three of them (#4, 6, 13)
involved fake composite photographs on
adult sites. One case (#16) involved
threats of video distribution by strangers.
1 One case (#3) involved cyberstalking. In this
case, the victim’s ex-boyfriend couldn’t
accept the breakup and kept contacting
her. He threatened distribution of intimate
photos and videos. She was concerned
about how to handle this and asked if it
would be better to sue him or meet with
him again to make him erase the photos
and videos.
36 Among these 36 cases, 8 cases concerned
hidden cameras. In case #2, the victim
found her video on a website. “Two years
ago, I found a website with a video taken of
me in the toilet.” The other victims found
their pictures or videos in the
perpetrators’ places. For example, in case
#18, “I found several videos on his
computer, and it made my life stumble; I
couldn’t even live. I saw a number of videos
of him having sexual intercourse with
women, including me, and I realized he was
meeting with a lot of women at the same
time, even when I was dating him. I don’t
even know when I was being shot. All the
videos were secretly taken by him.” In case
#25, “I woke up at home with my
boyfriend, but I couldn’t sleep, so I was
looking at his cell phone. I went into the
photo gallery, and I thought I was fainting.
There were pictures from a hidden
camera. They were taken on subways, at
bus stops, and even in libraries and cafes.”
(continued)
Kim et al. 7

Table 1. (continued)
Dimensions Frequency Description
In case #26, “My boyfriend tried to sneak a
picture of me. We often cooked meals and
watched movies together at my
boyfriend’s home. I caught him trying to do
a hidden camera.”
Coercion of a victim into an 3 Three cases (#19, 28, 31) were identified as
unwanted sexual act in the coercion. These cases seemed to be
online space written by adolescents. In the posts, one
victim said, “About four years ago, I was
forced to share a video of my face in a chat
room with about 30 people because of
intimidation” (#28). Another said, “I was
12 years old at the time. Four years ago,
because of the man’s intimidation, I sent
my videos and photos to him” (#19). In
this case, the victim seems more anxious
than victims of other cases even though
she actively responded to solve this
problem.
Unknown 14

known that several deletion companies also worked with illegal adult sites to generate
more TFSV victims, deletion services were offered at the government level as far as
TFSV is concerned (Bosco, 2022). Nonetheless, once the intimate contents were
uploaded to the online space, the contents would come up again and again. They
felt powerless: “I found out after I got a call from my friend. My video was uploaded
on the website, and I first asked my friend to help me erase it, so I deleted it. Since then,
I’ve been trying to erase one or two things a day, but even when erase one every day …
100 or 200 more appear. What should I do?” (#54).
Regarding the relationships between victims and the perpetrators, half of the victims
of strangers tried to take action such as reporting the issue to the police or directly con-
tacting the creators of the illegal website. Others, those who were victimized by inti-
mate partners, discussed seeking help in three posts. Victims of intimate partners
tried to solve the problem by reporting it to police, while those victimized by strangers
primarily tried to directly contact the adult website and paid about a thousand dollars to
a deletion company. On the other hand, the victims who could identify their perpetra-
tors often contacted the police and punished the perpetrators, but if they could not,
police officers told them it would be difficult to punish the perpetrators. “Every day
is still hellish, and it’s so hard. I sued, but the police said I can’t catch the disseminators
because I can’t identify them” (#20, reply 1). “I filed a complaint with the police, but I
heard, ‘We can’t catch the criminal, it will take a long time.’ And finally, I couldn’t
catch him” (#41).
8 Violence Against Women 0(0)

A few of the victims mentioned that they had tried to receive counseling but said
that it was not satisfying. “I have gone to a counseling center with courage, but I
just wondered why I was there. It’s hard” (#36, reply 1). One victim shared that a ther-
apist had made her upset. According to the post (#14), the therapist mentioned that
people viewing the content might not recognize her face, name, school, or job, and
the victims continued to say things like, “What the counselors say is not comforting
to me. Should I undergo plastic surgery? Or should I change my name or go back to
school? I want to die even though I’m not at fault. I hope that there is a solution. I
just wrote my thoughts. I’ve been living only at home for a year.” Another victim in
one post stated she is taking psychiatric medication (#63, reply 2).

How TFSV Influences Victims’ Day-to-Day Lives

Several posts mentioned victims’ broken relationships with friends and impact on
people close to them. In addition, some people stated that they had to resign from
their jobs because they worried their coworkers might find out. Those who end their
social relationships usually stay in their houses or even in their rooms. Furthermore,
if victims’ day-to-day lives were impacted, their family members were also undergoing
vicarious trauma or pains. “I’ve been living only at home for a year” (#14). “My sister
stays in most of the rooms as if she had died, she locked the door and disconnected with
other family members” (#52). Like the victims’ own suffering, their family members
also have difficulties in dealing with this problem. “I’m sorry that my family is the
only people whom I can tell this. My family is suffering from my stress” (#48).

Figure 1. Type of TFSV in different relationships.

Kim et al. 9

“My strong-looking mother tried to kill herself after that (daughter’s suicide), and now
she can’t work [because of] depression and just stay[s] in her room. I am at a loss how
to resolve my sister’s injustice” (#52).

Nature of Harm Experienced

Among the 54 posts, 15 posts mentioned victims’ suicidal ideations. Post #31 men-
tioned the victim’s previous suicidal attempt: “Because of that trauma, I tried to kill
myself and cut myself a lot.” And #52 mentioned her sister’s (victim) loss by
suicide. “My sister eventually tried to kill herself in February 2016 and died in a hos-
pital after holding out for two years.” One victim felt hopeless because she thought it
would be impossible to punish the perpetrators: “I’ve [already] sued, but I can’t figure
out where the distributors are. When I heard it, I tried to die by suicide” (#22, reply 5).
One post mentioned the reason behind her suicidal ideation as shame: “I really want to
die of shame” (#41, reply 1).
Twelve posts expressed victims’ anxiety regardless of whether or not they found
their intimate videos or pictures in the online space. Those who did not find videos
online always looked online because they knew or assumed that videos had been
recorded or existed in their partners’ possession. As shown in #41— “I didn’t find
the video, but I feel like people around me are recognizing it. I saw men laughing at
me.”—some victims felt anxious after breaking up with their partners just because
they had filmed intimate videos. The online space is too large to find everything,
and the victims felt this anxiety. Eleven posts mentioned victims’ fear of the world
rather than their perpetrators. They did not express their feelings in detail, but it
could be that their fear was related to the threat of change in their ordinary lives.
When they wasted their time screening or deleting their intimate videos or pictures,
they stated their anger and frustration: “I have to work but it’s too unfair to do every-
thing alone [No one can help me, so I have to solve it by myself]” (#41, reply 2). Once
they felt frustrated, they usually asked advice on the website. They commonly asked,
“How do I live?” (#2, 5, 6, 12, and 49). Five posts concerned victims’ sleep disturbance
and depression, but only one post mentioned that the victim took psychiatric medica-
tion. “Even though I took psychiatric medicines, I feel like I can’t sleep, I can’t eat but I
cry, and I feel heart-broken every day” (#48). Last, three posts expressed victims’
inability to focus on their work and lives.

What They Need

In the posts, victims sought help in finding information, political or law enforcement,
emotional support, and financial support. Among 36 of victims’ stated needs, 9 sought
advice on finding or monitoring their intimate videos or pictures in the online space.
Six posts involved victims’ wanting to know how they could delete their content on
the adult site. “What should I do to sites that don’t delete what I requested?” (#40),
“Does anyone know how many days it usually takes to delete it?” (#59). People who
had a tough time deleting the content by themselves asked for information about the
10 Violence Against Women 0(0)

deletion company. However, this deletion company is not an authorized company, so

victims doubted its authenticity. “Is it true that the digital deletion company is linked
to adult sites?” (#44, reply 2). “Can I believe that he (deletion company) told me to
sign the contract first and pay in advance if I want to erase it?” (#45).
Among 23 of victims’ political or law information needs, 11 posts asked how to
report the issue to the police and what evidence would be needed to punish the perpe-
trators. Eight posts argued that a macro level of power, such as governmental or
national, should be involved to solve this issue by increasing perpetrators’ criminal
sentences. However, several posts were skeptical of these expectations: “I wish the
country would stop it by law, but I don’t think it’s going to be too soon” (#41, reply
2). “It’s horrifying to see the country’s complacency” (#41, reply 6). On the other
hand, 11 posts expressed a desire for emotional support and hope in finding a
support group. They mentioned that there was no place to talk about the issue. “I
think it’s getting worse and worse because there’s no place to talk about it” (#36,
reply 1). “I’m afraid I’m going to explode because I can’t speak anywhere else, so
[if] I found a place like this I’d like to have a consultation” (#55).

Discussion
Online based crime has been the topic of much debate since the 1990s, but there was
little interest in TFSV (Henry & Powell, 2015b). The aim of this study was to explore
victims’ responses and their efforts in the situation of TFSV; understand victims’ suf-
fering in their day-to-day lives, especially from a mental health perspective; and dis-
cover their needs to detect or prevent risky behavior that may lead to health problems.
In a meta-analysis and systematic review of 19 articles, the prevalence of victimi-
zation regarding TFSV results showed that from 7.2 to 17.6% of people have experi-
enced TFSV (Patel & Roesch, 2020). Reed et al. (2019) supported that 68.6% of
participants reported experiencing at least one form of TFSV. There was considerable
redundancy, which means that participants who reported one type of TFSV often
reported experiencing other types as well. However, we cannot find studies conducted
in Asian countries regarding TFSV prevalence. To accumulate scientific knowledge
regarding TFSV, studies using the same classification are needed.
Pashang et al. (2019), found among 25 victims of TFSV, that 21 knew the perpe-
trators as friends, classmates, and ex-boyfriends. They also found that, contrary to
the general perceptions, young girls actively engaged in TFSV, like their male coun-
terparts, against other women. Reed et al. (2019), found that perpetrators of TFSV
identified as male, but victims classified their relationships as “did not know”
(41.8%), “met but did not know that well” (31.6%), “knew but did not date or have
a relationship with” (31.6%), “were dating or in a relationship with” (26.6%), “were
friends with” (24.1%), “hooked up with” (19.0%), or “liked or had a crush on”
(12.7%). Due to limitations of this study, the relationships between perpetrators and
victims are sometimes unclear. In the current study, 14 out of 26 posters (53.85%)
said the perpetrator was an intimate partner, 12 posters (46.15%) mentioned they
were strangers, and the relationship in the remaining 28 posts was unknown.
Kim et al. 11

Additionally, through the language they used (e.g., boyfriend, ex-boyfriend), it was
assumed that all the perpetrators in intimate relationships were female. In order to
compare results in other countries, more detailed study on relationships is needed.
The mental health impacts of TFSV are complex and long lasting, affecting young adult
females’ personal and social lives (Pashang et al., 2019). Our study found that TFSV leaves
permanent and public memories of shame, self-blame and stigmatization by known and
unknown others. TFSV can lead victims to isolate themselves from friends, families,
social places, employment, and education as well as other aspects of ordinary life.
Because perpetrators can remain anonymous and are rarely convicted, victims fear recurring
cyber exposure or its threat. Patel and Roesch (2020) conducted a qualitative analysis of
nine articles to evaluate the relationship between TFSV victimization and mental health
problems and found a significant impact on mental health including symptoms of
anxiety, depression, and inability to cope. Additionally, an association between TFSV
and poor health outcomes such as self-harm and suicidality was found. Snaychuk and
O’Neill (2020) also found that victims of TFSV in the young adult population tended to
have low self-esteem and high depressive symptoms. The current study found that
victims reported anxiety, depression, fear, frustration, and suicidality. These findings indi-
cate that TFSV should be recognized as a serious crime, and more work is needed to identify
the health consequences associated with experiencing TFSV. The importance of interven-
tions for TFSV victims’ physical and mental health must be emphasized.
Henry and Powell (2015a) argue that harmful digital communication is thought to be
related to people’s naïve attitudes rather than gender-based violence. They also argue that
current legal and policy approaches do not capture the social and psychological damage
inflicted on victims. Many posts in our study argued that progressive changes and
enforced laws are needed to promote gender equality and prevent TFSV against
women. On the other hand, Pashang et al. (2019), point out that victims need support
groups with whom to share their feelings and that mental health experts need to be
aware of the victims’ overall health and well-being. Since this study found that
victims need support groups to share their negative feelings and to prepare further
actions against TFSV, interventions including support group format are underscored.
Our study recommends enhanced public education and awareness of TFSV for
society as well as health care providers to include knowledge concerning the mental
health outcomes of TFSV in South Korea. Based on these results, conduct of further
study using other research methodology is indicated. The current study findings can
be used as a basis for legislative recommendations in South Korea.
Our study has several limitations. First, the study used a dataset from a public, anon-
ymous website, and results do not reflect all aspect of TFSV in Korean society.
Because the information of victims is not clear, more focused research concerning spe-
cific types of TFSV or specific ages is needed. Additionally, due to potential error
related to memory recall, the content may be inaccurate or biased. However, due to
the difficulty and sensitivity of assessing victims of TFSV, this study’s analyzing of
online communities demonstrates the genuine difficulties they confront in their ordi-
nary lives. Further investigation is needed to explore other cultural phenomena influ-
encing South Korea’s TFSV for comparisons with circumstances in other countries.
12 Violence Against Women 0(0)

Conclusion
The current study explores the responses of victims of TFSV and their efforts, mental
health concerns, and needs to detect or prevent risky behavior that may lead to health
problems. These findings provide an empirical basis for future research aimed to
prevent TFSV and protect victims’ physical and mental health in this country
through increased access to mental health care.

Author’s Note
Soojeong Kim is currently affiliated with Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Inha
University, Incheon, South Korea.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.

ORCID iDs
Soojeong Kim https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5829-7298
Eunju Choi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7089-6995
Jane Dimmitt Champion https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8220-5154

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Author Biographies
Soojeong Kim PhD in the School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin. Based on her
academic background with a master’s degree in criminology, she has studied in field of social
issues and mental health problems among Korean populations and published them through aca-
demic journals.

Eunju Choi is an Argyros postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Nursing, University of Texas
MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Choi’s research interests in psychosocial oncology are primarily
focused on adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients/survivors in the domains of social
determinants of health, disparities, and mobile/web-based interventions to improve quality of life
among AYAs. Dr. Choi also have expertise using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.

Jane Dimmitt Champion is a Professor of Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin. She
has extensive clinical research and practice experience concerning community-based interven-
tions for substance use, sexually transmitted infection, violence and unintended pregnancy
nationally and internationally. Dr. Champion published outcomes of this research and practice
via scientific journal and conference presentations.