In my master's thesis, I explored the use of the internet to perpetuate sexual violence. Upon reading the literature, I realised that the targets are most often women, hence why I focused my research on their experiences. In my research, I was interested in women's experiences of online sexual violence and which social and technological factors contribute to its prevalence. I was also interested in the feelings of targeted individuals and the psycho-physical and social consequences the experience has for survivors. I focused, in particular, on possible measures to combat the incidence of online sexual violence and to create a safer digital sphere. In the theoretical introduction, I first defined the basic concepts related to the phenomenon. I described the different manifestations of online sexual violence and provided statistics on the prevalence. I then went on to discuss the broader social context and the factors that influence the incidence of online sexual violence and the role played by technological aspects, such as anonimty and online algorithms. I then described a wide range of consequences that experiencing gender-based violence online can have for survivors, and in the final chapter I focused on the prevention of online sexual violence. Social work as a profession, with its focus on human rights, social justice and providing support and advocacy to vulnerable groups, is uniquely positioned as a key actor in the fight against this kind of violence. With my master's thesis, I wanted to provide a safe and confidential space where participants could share their experiences, observations and reflections on the phenomenon. The aim of the thesis was to break the silence, contribute to the discourse on the topic and offer reflections on the possible development of more successful practices to prevent the phenomenon, both at a broader societal level and from the perspective of the social work profession. I used a qualitative research method, conducting six semi-structured interviews to gather data. I used the interview guidelines as a measuring instrument based on the research questions. I analysed the data qualitatively and wrote up the results. I found that sexual violence occurs frequently in all online spaces and that women have many direct and indirect experiences with this phenomenon, which are particularly common during adolescence. The expectation of online sexual violence affects the sense of safety in the digital domain, leading women to take a range of self-protective measures and leaving survivors with emotional, psychological, physical and social problems. Finally, I made suggestions for preventing online sexual violence and creating a safer digital sphere.
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