Summary

I am Associate Professor in Cybercrime and Gender in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. 

I am the Chair of Hampshire Constabulary's Force Strategic Independent Advisory Group. This is a group made up of members of the public, community groups and organisations across Hampshire, which  reviews and challenges policing practices across the Constabulary - for example, Stop and Search, among others. In addition, the SIAG provides advice to the Chief Constable on controversial or complex policing issues. In this role I also sit on the Force’s Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy Planning Group and have contributed to the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy. I am also a member of the Force’s Domestic Abuse Oversight and Scrutiny Panel and have sat on various Gold Groups addressing issues of sexual violence and abuse.

I am a Fellow of the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism, which brings together experts from both inside and outside of academia to analyse and expose the dangers of misogynist ideology and mobilisation.

I am the Deputy Director of the Cyberawareness Clinic, a project in collaboration with Hampshire Constabulary supporting the local community to become more resilient to cyberthreats and researching the types of cybercrimes experienced. 

I was a Strategic Themes Research and Innovation Fellow (TRIF) for the research themes of Future and Emerging Technologies and Security and Risk, developing my interdisciplinary leadership and expertise in the area of cybercrime and gender - specifically online gender abuse and technology faciliated sexual violence. Currently I am researching misogyny online and communities and movements that propogate ideological hatred against marginalised groups. 

Biography

I have an undergraduate Law degree, and Masters degrees in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Web Science. I obtained my PhD in Web Science - Health Sciences from the University of Southampton in 2016. Previously I was employed at the University of Southampton as a Teaching Fellow in Criminology. I joined the University of Portsmouth in 2015 as a Lecturer before being promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2016. 

Research interests

My research focuses on cybercrime and gender and concentrates on the human interaction with technology and the human dimensions of cybercrime and cybersecurity. From exploring how people use the Web to obtain pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs, to the cyberthreats faced by the local community, harassment and abuse on social media, and misogynistic online communities such as incels; my work has contributed to the understanding of how people behave in online environments. My research utilises an interdisciplinary socio-technical approach, whereby gendered perspectives of cybercrime - representations and effects of misogyny/ sexism/ transphobia/ homophobia online are explored.

• Cybercrime and online deviance
• Gender and feminism
• Technology facilitated sexual violence and rape culture
• Domestic Abuse
• Online harassment and abuse
• Incel and alt-right communities 
• Propaganda, Fake news and online dis/misinformation 
• Dark web and cryptomarkets
• Online pharmaceuticals 
• Online research ethics 

Media availability

I am happy to take calls and emails from media on my research, and am aware of the need to
respond to journalists in a timely manner.

Interested journalists can also contact the University's Media and Communications team for support
and advice on all media engagement, including out of hours.