Social Media Gender-Based Violence: Definition, Classification and Taxonomy from a Systematic Review

Abstract

Social media gender-based violence is a major problem affecting vulnerable people in the digital space. This current trend has affected the way people interact on social media. Studies have examined the dangers of social media gender-based violence and its effect on individuals. However, existing research has not defined and categorised social media gender-based violence as a basis for understanding the context of social media gender-based violence. To address this gap, a systematic review was conducted. 155 articles were retrieved from three databases. To expand the search, the snowballing approach was used. 13 of these articles met the inclusion criteria. Based on the findings, a definition and classification were provided for the concept of social media gender-based violence. This led to the development of a novel taxonomy for the classification of social media gender-based violence. The findings are relevant for future studies on social media and gender-based violence. The findings will also shape the context of social media gender-based violence based on the novel taxonomy developed in this paper.