Technology-facilitated sexual abuse and mental health: What mental health nurses and mental health professionals need to know

New online electronic technologies have created an enabling environment for perpetrators of sexual abuse to transcend space and place within control and coercion tactics (Harris & Woodlock, 2022). Technologyfacilitated abuse (TFA) is a broad category for the perpetration of sexual abuse or harassment through various platforms, devices and online techniques (Champion et al., 2021). These technologies are often employed in intimate partner violence (IPV) to intimidate, isolate and stalk victims in new ways not previously available. IPV is complex and multi-dimensional, affecting people (especially women and girls) all over the world (Jack et al., 2023). It has been referred to as ‘intimate terrorism’ (Halldorsdottir, 2023), and includes a wide range of behaviours that may include physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and financial abuse (WHO, 2021). IPV relies on psychological threat, intimidation (Southworth et al., 2007), and coercive control (Stark, 2007).