Social media as a campaign tool against online gender-based violence in South Africa

Abstract

The object of this research is: to explore the correlation between social media as a campaign tool against online gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa. The researchers investigated the following problem: Over the past decade, there have been several prominent incidents of harassment and stalking in South Africa. The issue of GBV against women in South Africa is prevalent in mainstream and online social media. Thus, women and girls are targeted in what is seemingly becoming a prolonged cycle of GBV in the country. The Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 was found to be a relevant legal framework in South Africa for responding to online GBV. Thus, the study was underpinned by social exchange and the spiral of silence theories. Methods and Materials: In this non-empirical study, a systematic review was employed. Social media as a campaign tool against online gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa was qualitatively studied. For the data collection process, the most recent repositories such as journal articles, books, reports, conference papers, dissertations and organizations’ websites were gathered and systematically reviewed from July 2022 to November 2022. However, thematic analysis was used with due care to analyze data for the study. The NVivo software was used to identify common, repetitive and different themes. The main results of the research are: As a result of the study's findings, there have been an increasing number of social media campaigns on sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter used by women all over the world to help combat the scourge of GBV. In this regard, women are using social media platforms to cry out for help and band together to fight a common enemy that violates their human rights and bodily integrity through social injustice. The area of practical use of the research is for: This study is pivotal since it aimed at proposing intervention strategies to combat online GBV in South Africa. Most importantly, the outcome of this study will help in the development of more policy roadmaps for the successful combat of online GBV in South Africa and across the world. In a nutshell, the study recommends that law enforcement agencies, policymakers and civil society, among others, put in place additional frameworks to curb online GBV in South Africa.