On the following pages, we provide information on:
Cyberstalking
Image-based sexualised violence
Cyberbullying
Identity theft
Doxing
Hate speech and its intersectional characteristics
What is digital violence?
Digital violence is a collective term. It refers to acts of violence that are committed using information technology systems:
- Violence involving technical devices (e.g. smartphones, location trackers, cameras);
- Violence involving software (apps, internet applications, emails, etc.);
- and violence in the digital space, e.g. on online portals or social platforms.
We work on the basis that digital violence does not occur separately from "analogue violence" outside the digital sphere, but is usually a continuation or addition to violent relationships and dynamics. Relationships involving power and discrimination, e.g. between genders, but also racism, ableism, etc., are the bedrock of analogue and digital violence. At the same time, violence helps to maintain these power-based relations. On this Web portal, we primarily discuss gender-specific digital violence. This includes all forms of digital violence that are often directed against women and girls and affect them more severely or in a particular way, e.g. through sexualisation, as well as digital forms of violence that people experience because of their gender or gender identity.