DeStalk: the online course to combat cyberviolence and stalkerware

According to theEuropean Institute for Gender Equality, one in ten women has already suffered cyber violence at the age of 15. In Europe, seven out of ten women who have been attacked through cyberstalking have also been victims of at least one form of physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. For this reason, from February 2021, the partners of the consortium DeStalk they created a e-learning course. Here are the details.

DeStalk, the online course against cyberviolence and stalkerware

Since February 2021, the DeStalk consortium partners have developed a e-learning course. Their goal is to help the victims e preventing gender-based violence online, helping them against cyberviolence and stalkerware.

Stalkerware is a software commercially available which is used for secretly spying on another person’s private life via a smart device. It is often used as a form of violence by one’s partner. According to Kaspersky’s State of Stalkerware report, in 2020 in Europe they were 6,459 mobile users victimized by stalkerware.

The online course is a first important milestone in the path that aims to fill the lack in terms of knowledge. While online abuse is a known problem, professionals and officials still need to acquire additional skills to improve their ability to recognize and stop the use of cyber violence and stalkerware.

Kaspersky developed the e-learning package in collaboration with Blanquerna Foundation, A House for Man, Veneto Region e WWP EN. The lessons will be accessible on Kaspersky’s Automated Security Awareness Platform, one of the company’s educational platforms. The work on the training course was possible thanks to the support of Rights, Equality and Citizenship Program of the European Commission.

The training is open to EU representatives of institutions and services that address gender-based violence in their daily work and is available in 5 languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. One hundred users they will have free access to the e-learning platform to complete the program by August 2022.

Acquire skills in a short time

The course is self-managed, so each student is able to follow it at their own pace, while the educational platform will motivate and engage them in a constant way. It is estimated that, dedicating 30 to 90 minutes per week under study, it is possible to complete the course within four weeks.

The online training course is structured in 4 moduli which include lessons on:

• Introduction to gender-based violence and cyberviolence;
• Recognition of the most common forms of gender-based cyberviolence;
• In-depth training on stalkerware;
• Practical guide on what measures to take in case of cyber violence and stalkerware.

Professionals and civil servants wishing to take part in the training can register via the form available on the project webpage.