Dr Asher Flynn is an Associate Professor of Criminology in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University and the Vice President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology. She is an award-winning international researcher in policy and prevention concerning gendered and sexual violence, with a key focus on AI and technology-facilitated abuse. Asher is the recipient of a number of prestigious national and international research fellowships and positions including at the University of Durham, West Virginia University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Warwick. She has advised the United Nations, Meta (Facebook) and the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner on policy and prevention of technology-facilitated violence and abuse, and is the only Australian Advisor on the 12 person Meta (Facebook) Global Women’s Safety Board.

Asher is currently the Lead Chief Investigator on two Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS) Projects, Technology-Facilitated Abuse: Extent, Nature and Responses in the Australian Community and Workplace Technology-Facilitated Sexual Harassment: Perpetration, Responses and Prevention. These national projects seek to establish reliable prevalence rates for the adult victimisation and perpetration of key forms of technology-facilitated abuse, including online sexual harassment, stalking, partner violence and image-based abuse, and to develop a clear understanding of workplace technology-facilitated sexual harassment. Asher is also Lead Chief Investigator on an Australian Criminology Research Council Grant, Technology-Facilitated Coercive, which aims to map women's pathways to support and improve responses for victim/survivors of technology-facilitated coercive control. Asher also leads the Deepfakes: Preventing and Disrupting AI-Facilitated Abuse Project funded by the Data Futures Institute. This project aims to identify ways to disrupt and prevent deepfake technologies, and analyse existing laws, regulations and protocols responding to AI-facilitated abuse. Her substantial individual and collaborative body of work includes eight books and approximately 60 peer-reviewed publications. 

In 2018, Asher was awarded the Monash University Vice-Chancellor’s Research Impact Award for her research on image-based abuse. This is the first time the award had ever been received by a researcher from the Faculty of Arts. Asher also received the Dean’s Award for Research Impact in 2018, and the 2018 Capstone Editing Award for Academic Women. In 2018, Asher was nominated for a Vice-Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, after winning the Faculty of Arts Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2017, for her sustained and innovative contributions to teaching and supporting students in Criminology, and for fostering a sense of ownership, independence and engagement in student learning. Asher also received a commendation from the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology in 2018 for teaching excellence. In 2013, Asher was awarded the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology New Scholar Prize for the best early career academic paper written in a criminology-related area, and in 2014, she was awarded the Faculty of Arts Dean's Award for Excellence in Research by Early Career Researchers and an Emerging Research Fellowship in the Faculty of Arts (Monash University).

You can follow Asher on Twitter here: @AsherFlynn

Current research projects:

• (2022-2023) Technology-Facilitated Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Perpetration, Responses and Prevention (with Associate Professor Anastasia Powell). This project is funded by Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety and DSS.
• (2022-2023) Technology-Facilitated Coercive Control: Mapping Women's Pathways to Safety and Justice (with Associate Professor Anastasia Powell and Karen Bentley). This project is funded by the Criminology Research Council (CRG20/21-22).
• (2020-2022) Technology-Facilitated Abuse: Extent, Nature and Responses in the Australian Community (with Associate Professor Anastasia Powell). This project is funded by Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety and DSS.
• (2020-2022) Deepfakes: Preventing and Disrupting AI-Facilitated Abuse (with Dr Campbell Wilson and Prof Jonathan Clough).This project is funded by the Data Futures Institute.
• (2020-2022) Body Warn Cameras: Examining the Merits of Body Warn Camera Technologies in Domestic and Family Violence Cases (with Dr Mary Iliadis, Dr Danielle Tyson, Dr Zarina Vakhitova and Dr Bridget Harris). This project is funded by the Australian Criminology Research Council (CRG35/2021). 
• (2020-2023) Preventing Sexual Assault on Campus: Women's Empowerment and Safety through Education and Action (with Dr Leesa Hooker, Jess Ison, Prof Angela Taft, Dr Kirstey Forsdike, Elli Darwinkel and Fiona Marshall). This project is funded by La Trobe University.
• (2019-2022) Preventing Image-Based Cybercrime in Australia: The Role of Bystanders (with Dr Adrian Scott and Elena Cama). This project is funded by the Australian Criminology Research Council (CRG02/19-20).

Recently completed projects:

• (2020-2021) Expert review of Respectful Relationships Education material, Department of Education, Skills and Employment (with Dr Naomi Pfitzner and Assoc/Prof Kate Fitz-Gibbon)
• (2020-2021) National stocktake of Respectful Relationships Education programs and resources, Department of Education, Skills and Employment (with Dr Naomi Pfitzner, Prof Deb Ellis, Assoc/Prof Kelly-Ann Allen and Assoc/Prof Kate Fitz-Gibbon)
• (2021) National Plan Consultation Project, Department of Social Services (with the Monash Family Violence Prevention Centre)
• (2017-2021) Revenge Pornography: The prevalence and nature of non-consensual imagery and the implications for law reform (with Associate Professor Nicola Henry, Associate Professor Anastasia Powell, Dr Adrian Scott, Professor Clare McGlynn, Professor Erika Rackley and Professor Nicola Gavey). This project is funded by the Australian Research Council (DP170101433).
• (2019-2020) Institute for Research on Image-Based Abuse (with Dr Sarah Whitney). This project is funded by a Monash University and Pennsylvania State University Research Grant.
• (2019-2020) Overlooked or Just Ignored? Victims and Plea Negotiations (with Emeritus Professor Arie Freiberg). This project was funded by Monash University and the Victorian Department of Justice.
• (2015-2017) Responding to Revenge Pornography: The scope, nature and impact of Australian Criminal Laws (with Associate Professor Nicola Henry and Associate Professor Anastasia Powell). This project was funded by the Criminology Research Council (CRG08/15-16).
• (2014-2016) Negotiated Guilty Pleas: An Empirical Analysis (with Emeritus Professor Arie Freiberg). This project was funded by the Criminology Research Council (CRG 51/13-14).
• (2014-2016) Access to Justice and Legal Aid: A Comparative Analysis of Systems in Australia and the United Kingdom (with Prof Jackie Hodgson). This project was funded by the Warwick/Monash Alliance.

Research & Education Awards

• Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Impact (Social and Economic), Monash University (2018)
• Capstone Editing Award for Academic Women (2018)
• Faculty of Arts Deans Award for Research Impact, Monash University (2018)
• Commendation for Teaching Excellence, Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology (2018)
• Nomination for Vice-Chancellor's Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2018)
• Research Fellow in Law, University of Durham (UK) (2018)
• Faculty of Arts Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning (2017)
• Research Fellow in Law, Centre for Criminal Justice, School of Law, Warwick University (UK) (2014-2017)
• Lifetime Research Fellow in Social Sciences, Mannix College, Monash University (2014-ongoing)
• Faculty of Arts Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research by Early Career Researchers, Monash University (2014)
• Emerging Research Fellow, Faculty of Arts, Monash University (2014)
• Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology New Scholar Award (2013)
• Research Fellow in Arts, Mannix College, Monash University (2013)
• Research Fellow in Law, University of Manchester (UK) (2013)
• Visiting Fellow, Centre for Criminal Justice, University of Warwick (UK) (2013)

PhD & Masters by Research Supervision Areas

• Technology-facilitated violence and abuse (including online harrassment)
• AI-facilitated abuse (including "deepfakes")
• Image-based abuse ("revenge pornography")
• Digital crime
• Gendered violence
• Rape and sexual violence
• Access to Justice
• Plea Negotiations
• Legal Aid
• Victims' Rights
• Law Reform
• Prosecutorial discretion

Current Supervisions

• Doctorate by research: 'Family Violence in the Age of Technology'

Candidate: Andi Brown

Supervisors: Dr Lennon Chang (Main) and Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'Consent to Bodily Harm'

Candidate: Nadia David

Supervisors: Associate Professor Asher Flynn (main) and Professor Liz Campbell (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'The Role of Minority Groups' Agency in Post-Conflict Peace Building Societies'

Candidate: Richard Fosu

Supervisors: Dr Eleanor Gordon (main) and Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'A gendered and stakeholder informed approach to preventing and addressing deepfakes' 

Candidate: Holly Gray

Supervisors: Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Main), Associate Professor Campbell Wilson (Associate) and Professor Jonathan Clough (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'Institutional Analysis of Violence Against Women in Indonesia'.

Candidate: Hana Hanifah

Supervisors: Professor Jacqui True (Main) and Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'Exploring the memorialisation of conflict-related sexual and gender based (SGBV) crimes'

Candidate: Casey Jewell

Supervisors: Professor Jacqui True (Main), Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Associate) and Sara Davies (external, associate)

• Doctorate by research: 'Social Media as a Catalyst for Youth Violence'

Candidate: Hannah Klose

Supervisors: Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Main), Dr Kate Burns (Associate) and Professor Alex Piquero (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'Women's experiences of plea negotiations'

Candidate: Monique Maffa

Supervisors: Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Main), Emeritus Professor Arie Freiberg (Associate) and Dr Kate Burns (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'Gender, Lonliness and Online Hate: Comparing how Masculinities and Feminities are Constructed in Internet Forums discussing Dating Failures and Lonliness'

Candidate: Josh Thornburn

Supervisors: Dr Brady Robards (Main) and Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'Rapes That Are Not Crimes: Feminist Debates, Average Guys and Why Novels Don’t Deal With Them'

Candidate: Giulia Mastrantoni

Supervisors: Professor Jarrod Hayes (main), Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Associate) and Dr John Hawke (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'Australian School Leaver and First-Year University Students' Understandings of Consent'.

Candidate: Katherine Schofield

Supervisors: Associate Professor Asher Flynn (Main) and Dr Faith Gordon (Associate, external)

• Doctorate by research: 'Sharing Experiences of Violence as Prevention Strategy'

Candidate: Lisa Whieldon

Supervisors: Associate Professor Asher Flynn (main), Professor Jacqui True (Associate) and Abby Wild (Associate).

Completed Supervisions

• Doctorate by research: 'Out of the Silence: Women Refugees' (2022)

Dr Khulud Alhamazani

Supervisors: Assoc/Prof Jane Southcott (main), Assoc/Prof Asher Flynn (associate) and Dr Kristen Reimer (associate). 

• Doctorate by research: '"A man's home is his castle and mine is a cage": Pathways to remedy and access to justice for economic partner abuse in Victoria' (2020)

Dr Madeleine Ulbrick

Supervisors: Assoc/Prof Asher Flynn (Main) & Prof Jude McCulloch (Associate).

• Doctorate by Research: ‘Cognitive and Pyschological Factors present in Australian Violent Offenders’ (2019)

Dr Laura Anderson

Supervisors: Dr Jennifer Pilgrim (Main), Assoc/Prof Asher Flynn (Associate) Prof Olaf Drummer (Associate).

• Doctorate by Research: '"Yes Means Yes": Narratives of Consent in Victorian Rape Trials' (2019)

Dr Rachel Burgin

Supervisors: Assoc/Prof Asher Flynn (Main) and Prof Jude McCulloch (Associate)

• Doctorate by Research: 'Justice Reinvestment: Reimagining Criminal Justice Policy' (2018)

Dr Kate Burns

Supervisors: Assoc/Prof Asher Flynn (Main) and Dr Claire Spivakovsky (Associate).

• Doctorate by Research: 'Accessing Victims' Rights within the Adversarial Process: The Viability of Legal Representation for Victims in the Prosecution Process' (2017)

Dr Mary Iliadis

Supervisors: Assoc/Prof Asher Flynn (Main) and Prof Jude McCulloch (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'Exploring Community Perceptions of Victoria Police: A Case Study of the Monash Local Government Area, Melbourne' (2017)

Dr Allegra Schermuly

Supervisors: Assoc/Prof Helen Forbes-Mewett (Main) and Assoc/Prof Asher Flynn (Associate).

• Doctorate by research: 'An Examination of Post-release treatment programs and support services for released prisoners with Alcohol Use Disorders in Victoria' (2016)

Dr Christina Kirtley

Supervisors: Assoc/Prof Asher Flynn (Main) and Prof Sharon Pickering (Associate).

• Technology-facilitated violence and abuse (including online harrassment)
• AI-facilitated abuse (including "deepfakes")
• Image-based abuse ("revenge pornography")
• Digital crime
• Gendered violence
• Rape and sexual violence
• Access to Justice
• Legal Aid
• Victims' Rights
• Law Reform
• Plea negotiations
• Prosecutorial discretion

APG5088: International and Comparative Criminal Justice Policy - This intensively delivered unit in the Masters of Public Policy.

This unit will explore comparative criminal justice systems and policies in Australia and internationally. This unit will focus on the politics of criminal justice policy making, system reforms, policy mobilities and policy levers. This unit will explore Australian and international case studies, with a specific focus on the US, demonstrating the way that policy is implemented in different jurisdictions. This unit will explore policy ‘successes’ and policy ‘failures’ and will have a practical application to the current policy environment.

Asher’s research initiates and develops collaborations with expertise from industry and diverse disciplines, to deliver outcomes with relevance and impact. Her research involves in-depth consultation with those directly affected by, and those working within, the law, thus the findings translate into applied research that facilitates policy change and impact.

Asher contributes in advisory roles to a range of peak legal and government bodies in Australia, and her work is regularly cited in government reports and inquiries. Asher's research has also led to changes in law reform, including most recently, her work on image-based sexual abuse with Associate Professors Nicola Henry and Anastasia Powell, which shaped the introduction of the Crimes Amendment (Revenge Porn) Bill (ACT) and the Crimes Amendment (Intimate Images) Bill (NSW). Asher and Associate Professor Henry were invited to NSW Parliament by NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman to observe the reading of the bill and to attend and speak at a function at Parliament House in honour of those who had contributed to the development of this important legislative change. Asher has been invited to make submissions to numerous government enquiries and has presented evidence at various government committee hearings.

Asher also assisted the Victorian State Office of Public Prosecutions in implementing and developing policies for the Evidence Act 2009 (Vic) and Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic), which constituted the largest legal reforms to the criminal justice system in 50 years. Her industry impact was recognised in a 2015 Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council report, Guilty Pleas in the Higher Courts: Rates, Timing and Discounts which acknowledged her work and expertise on plea negotiations.

Outside academia, Asher’s research informs public debate through an ongoing, sustained engagement with the media, across television; radio (including The Conversation Hour with Jon Faine; The Radio National Breakfast Show; The Law Report), newspapers, opinion pieces (The Age) and The Conversation.

Asher was elected the Victorian Representative on the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Executive Committee in 2017.