Gendering abuse on social media; A study of cyber violence against women on Facebook

Abstract

In the contemporary society, Cyber Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) has become a common phenomenon on social media. This can be particularly seen on Facebook which is at present the most widely used social media platform in Sri Lanka. The research problem of this study is based on an exploration of the gendered nature of cyber violence on Facebook. It is based on the premise that, the ways and means of abuse women are subjected to on Facebook are diverse and varied. Thus, the objective of this research is to scrutinize the socio-cultural assumptions and dominant ideological beliefs and values which lead to the construct and usage of injurious content and hate speech against Sri Lankan women on this online platform. It is based on the methodology of a qualitative content analysis to survey text and visual media which provoke harassment on Facebook. These are explored by scrutinizing the gendered visual representations of offensive and misogynistic content and verbal terminologies such as sexist hate speech against women. These explorations are based on an analysis of memes, comments, images and posts which are predominantly based on two incidents which occurred in July 2015 and August 2014. Based on this qualitative content analysis, this study concludes that, the sexualisation and abuse women are subjected to on Facebook depict how the body and sexuality of women are disciplined and controlled. This is realized by deconstructing the meanings and attributes of Sinhala injurious content which vilify and denigrate women by subjecting them to abuse, ridicule, and harassment.