Digital gender violence. Tensions regarding its criminalization

Abstract

Gender violence in digital environments is an expanding global phenomenon, stemming from both historical structures of inequality affecting women, children and gender-diverse people, and from the hyperconnectivity generated by the massive use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The accelerated digitization during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that, as more women access virtual spaces, the incidence of cyber-violence also increases. In this context, social networks are becoming established as platforms where technologically mediated sexual relationships and practices are configured, perpetuating pre-existing behaviors in new forms amplified by virtuality. This scenario poses significant challenges for contemporary criminal law, which must rethink what conduct to prosecute and how to guarantee effective state responses to digital violence.