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cyber bullying abuse

Jayne A. Hitchcock
WHOA-KTD President

Jayne HitchcockJayne's own experience with cyberstalking, which garnered international headlines, led her to become a noted cybercrime and security expert.

She speaks about cybercrime and online security to educational institutions, librarians, corporations, the general public, students and parents, and trains law enforcement personnel throughout the USA, as well as consulting for several organizations, including the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, the National Center for Victims of Crime and many law enforcement agencies. Jayne has also been actively involved in getting online harassment/cyberstalking, online dating, child protection and other laws passed throughout the USA.

Jayne is the author of eight books, as well as a freelance journalist. Her most recent book is Net Crimes and Misdemeanors 2nd Edition: Outmaneuvering Web Spammers, Stalkers, and Con Artists , which details different types of online crimes, scams, spams and more, complete with case histories, experts, and advice on how to protect yourself, your family and your computer online.

Photo ©Lisa Bettencourt / Breathless Focus Photography

WHOA KTD Mission Statement

The mission of WHOA-KTD is to educate the Internet community about online bullyng, harassment and stalking, to empower victims of the same, and to formulate voluntary policies that systems administrators can adopt in order to create harassment-free environments. WHOA-KTD fully supports the right to free speech both online and off, but asserts that free speech is not protected when it involves threats to the emotional or physical safety of anyone. WHOA-KTD further asserts that online harassment is about power in a community: a power structure that has tended to accept or ignore harassment rather than actively seek to cease it.

While WHOA-KTD does not wish to single out any one group, we recognize and celebrate that the tide of the community is changing, as people from all walks of life begin to become active participants online. As such, we must begin to assert our power as a group of concerned individuals (no matter what our backgrounds) toward the protection of all people online against harassment targeted against them based on gender, sexual preference, race, ethnicity, age or privilege. WHOA-KTD welcomes anyone who demonstrates sensitivity toward the issues of harassment and a willingness to support our cause.

Goals and Implementations

  1. Educate the Internet Community About Online Bullying, Harassment & Stalking.

    This will take several forms:
    1. Educating administrators of BBS's, chats, IRC servers, web sites and other interactive media about the issues of harassment and creating positive, safe communities through the development of web site resources.
    2. Educating the community itself and providing information about how users can protect themselves against harassment situations.
    3. Educating targets of harassment on how to fight back and protect themselves in the meantime against further harassment.
    4. Educating teachers and other educators how to work with students and parents when an online bullying, harassment or stalking situation happens.

  2. Empowering Victims of Online Bullying, Harassment & Stalking. In addition to education about what they can do to fight back, WHOA-KTD will provide advice and referrals to victims of harassment, as needed.
  3. Providing Policies For a Better Internet Community. There are several policies that WHOA-KTD will seek to develop and advance:
    1. Policies against harassment or intimidation through public or private means (such as email).
    2. Policies against public personal attacks, particularly involving the "outing" of private information about someone or libelous material.
    3. Policies against threats of any kind.
    4. Policies favoring the self-policing of sites.

All of these policies will seek to encourage administrators to use the control they have over the use of their resources to remove any persons causing offenses to those policies that are either severe or repeated. Administrators who choose to adopt these policies will be educated and assisted in putting them into practice.

What We Can Do

If you are being harassed online, we can help. WHOA's volunteers can help trace messages and give you advice on who to contact, how to proceed, and how to make yourself safer online. If necessary, we will contact web masters and others in position of authority for you in order to request that they take action to help stop the abuse. We are also available to work with law enforcement personnel on specific cases or for general training and education regarding internet crime. If you want, we will talk to your parents and work with them to help you feel safer. And sometimes, simply talking to someone who has been in a similar situation and is willing to listen and give you feedback is a relief.

What We Can't Do

We are not cybercops. We are not attorneys. We cannot make someone stop contacting you, and we will not contact any harasser directly. We will not contact your parents without your permission or report anything to the police, but we will work with the police if needed or requested.