effective democratic participation, undermining the principles of inclusivity and
equal representation that are foundational to a healthy democracy.
Key concept: Digital Patriarchy
Physical reality and digital reality are bound by a cyclical relationship where one
constantly affects the other. The part where the digital affects the physical was
named: digitality or digitalism which was defined as: “the processes of a machine
a logic, that has not only rapidly colonized every part of the inhabited planed, but
has also suffused the consciousness of almost every person within it in terms of
his or her engagement with each other through networks of communication,
production and consumption19”. In simpler terms: digital life affects every aspect
of modern life.
Based on the concept of digitality, digital patriarchy operates on the same level
of influence as this term is used to describe how technologies and online
behaviors reinforce gender hierarchies. Online harassment, doxxing, nonconsensual image sharing, reputation-based defamation, and even jokes are not
isolated acts but part of a continuum of control that aims to discipline women
who claim visibility in digital spaces. This continuum of technology-enabled
violence blurs the boundaries between online and offline, showing that digital
harm has material, psychological, and political consequences
Key concepts: Digital Citizenship and democratic deficit
Digital citizenship as a continuation or extension to civic citizenship is a tool that
benefits democratic participation, as the internet and social media has been
proven to increase civic and political engagement. Nevertheless, digital
citizenship can also be stripped or silenced through threats of violence, such is
the case with TFGBV.
When young women are silenced, excluded, or attacked, the consequences
extend beyond individual trauma: the democratic fabric itself is weakened. The
deliberate use of online misogyny to suppress participation creates what
scholars call a “democratic deficit20”, where not all voices can contribute equally
to public discourse, meaning that not all citizens of the digital realm get the same
amount, particularly, the right to freedom of expression.
This conceptual framework situates TFGBV within a continuum of gendered
control, bridging feminist theory, digital sociology, and political participation
studies. It underscores that combating TFGBV is not only a matter of protecting
women’s safety but of safeguarding the democratic potential of the digital
sphere.
19
Robert Hassan, The Condition of Digitality: A Post-Modern Marxism for the Practice of Digital Life (University of
Westminster Press, 2020), https://doi.org/10.16997/book44.
20
Pippa Norris, Democratic Deficit: Critical Citizens Revisited (Cambridge University Press, 2011).
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