This type of violence is formally known as “Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based
Violence (TFGBV)” and is defined as:
“Any act that is committed, assisted, aggravated or amplified by the use of
information communication technologies or other digital tools which results in or
is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological, social, political or economic
harm or other infringements of rights and freedoms.”11.
In Jordan, the scale of this problem is significant. According to the Jordanian
National Committee for Women (JNCW),
Electronic violence is considered the third most common form of violence after
physical and psychological as 63.1% of their participants confirmed having faced
online violence at least once in their lives12.
Moreover, UN Women reported that in 2020, 60.4% of women in Jordan faced
TFGBV13. The consequences of this violence are severe, ranging from psychological
harm to the stifling of women's voices in political and social debates. Despite
growing evidence, a critical gap remains in understanding the direct link between
TFGBV and the suppression of women's democratic engagement in the Jordanian
context.
This research, which is a part of the New Generation Project - GenG, utilizes the
extensive experience of the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development
(ARDD) to examine the impact of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence
(TFGBV) on young women's democratic participation. The study employs an
intentional, intersectional focus on young women, who face compounded
discrimination due to their age and gender. This focus addresses a significant gap
in the literature, which often fails to consider how one’s social position shapes
their experiences of TFGBV. Focusing on young women is critical for two reasons:
their vulnerable social position and their ongoing process of socialization, which
makes them more susceptible to the propagation of misogynistic hate speech and
social pressure. The research will provide a comprehensive analysis of how TFGBV
and offline violence converge to restrict the political involvement of young women
in Jordan and answer the main research question: How does TFGBV affect young
women’s democratic participation? To answer this question, this research builds
on an interdisciplinary conceptual framework that informs the research
methodology.
11
UNFPA, “What Is Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence?,” 2023, https://www.unfpa.org/resources/brochurewhat-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence.
https://shorturl.at/QNhYE.، (2022) العنف ضد النساء في المجالين العام والسياسي في األردن، اللجنة الوطنية لشؤون المرأة12
13
UN Women, Violence Against Women in the Online Space: Insights from a Multi-Country Study in the Arab States (2021),
https://www.unfpa.org/TFGBV.
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