The research project “Social representations of cyber-violence against women and girls: advancing knowledge on an under-conceptualized issue” aims to analyze the social representations of violence perpetrated through digital technologies against women and girls (Cyber-VAWG) in Italy. It seeks to understand how this phenomenon is legitimized or rationalized across various institutional contexts and among youth and adolescents.
Despite growing public attention to digital violence, its intersection with gender-based violence remains insufficiently explored and lacks a consistent conceptual framework. Cyber-VAWG, however, serves to amplify existing systems of social inequality and perpetuate the structural, cultural, and economic exclusion and marginalization of women.
The research is grounded in the hypothesis of an unresolved tension between an anticipated social expectation of gender equality and the persistence of a gendered double standard that sustains the status quo of male dominance. In the case of Cyber-VAWG, this tension is negotiated along two key symbolic boundaries: the distinction between online and offline experiences and the boundary between violence and nonviolence.
The overall goal is to make up for the poor conceptualization and lack of research on gendered cyber-violence in Italy.
Objectives and Methods:
This project aims to fill knowledge gaps on Cyber-VAWG, contributing to greater public awareness, more effective policies, and advancements in academic research on the topic. It represents a significant contribution to the fight against gender-based violence and the promotion of a culture of respect and equality in the digital world.
