Rendering of the gender cyberviolence on university young people: reflections on its impact in other acts of violence

Abstract

Gender cyberviolence is committed through digital spaces to exert authority upon the woman and towards other people or social groups. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of gender cyberviolence in university young people. As well as reflecting on how this violence can affect the relations within social circles of the victims from the role of the cyberaggressor. Methodologically, a survey with two scales type Likert was applied to a sample of university young people, consisting of 23 items each one, that described undergone aggressions and been present in digital environments, proposed by specialized literature and whose theoretical ground is the patriarchy. Results suggest the presence of gender cyberviolence above half of the boarded group, mainly in the role of viewers. Most of the committed acts were related to violence to state anti-patriarchal ideology, showing the existence of sexism and stereotypes within the virtual scenarios in which young people interact. The analysis of gender cyberviolence allows glimpsing the way other acts of violence are present: Cyber dating violence, family cyber-violence and bullying, as well as realizing that this type of virtual violence may be fueling physical face-to-face violence.