Gender-based cyberviolence in digital Spain: an intersectional analysis of risks and challenges for the welfare state and democracy

Abstract

The expansion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Spain has intensified the emergence of specific forms of cyberviolence. This is [a phenomenon/term missing in original] that operates as a mechanism of social coercion and democratic silencing. This article analyzes, from an intersectional perspective, how the articulation of variables such as gender, age, migrant origin, social class, and territory determines patterns of digital victimization and institutional response capacity. Methodologically, secondary data from the INE (National Statistics Institute) and the Ministry of Equality were used. For primary data, an in-house, exploratory questionnaire on online cyberviolence in university settings was used, validated by the Ethics Committee of the University of Barcelona. The results reveal underreporting biases, gaps in the protection system, and deficits in the implementation of the current regulatory framework. The results show that 60% of young Spanish women have experienced some form of digital sexual violence (FAD Juventud, 2024), and that the intersection of vulnerability factors produces [effects that / cumulative effects — phrase incomplete in original] impoverish democracy. Gender-based cyberviolence constitutes a structural threat to the sustainability of the welfare state and to the quality of digital democracy in Spain, and evidence-informed public policy recommendations are proposed.