Evaluating Female Experiences of Electronic Dating Violence in Jordan: Motivations, Consequences, and Coping Strategies

Abstract

Gender stereotypes can influence electronic dating violence (EDV) because the victims’ experiences with abusers depict crucial social mechanisms concerning relational dependency and unequal power relations between men and women, making it difficult for women to resist, report, or escape cyber abuse. In the Arab context, cyber abuse in romantic relationships has not been sufficiently examined. This study investigated female experiences of EDV through a qualitative exploratory descriptive approach. Participants experienced several short- and long-term negative psychological and emotional behavioral responses. Our findings validate that EDV heightened the probability of intimate partner violence definitively via psychological, emotional, verbal, and physical abuse. Their resistance strategies differed according to the extent and nature of the abuse. None of the participants sought help from family due to fear of being killed or forced out of university, and realizing that they would continue to experience multiple forms of abuse. Rather, they either sought help from female professors at the university or paid the abuser to be left alone. Further, they engaged in protective behaviors to block their abusive partner’s access to them, consulted an Information Technology expert, and secretly requested assistance from the police. Preference for controlling and dominant roles, gaining monetary benefits, sexual exploitation, peer pressure, and revenge and anger due to abandonment were the leading motivations for abuse. Female students in their first year of university, those who lived in a disjointed family environment, or those who suffered abuse from their families were particularly susceptible to being victimized. Moreover, passwords shared with others or accounts left open on others’ devices also enabled EDV. Hence, universities must conduct awareness sessions, for female students, on how to manage emotions and safe communication on social media and build healthy friendships and relationships. Curricula, seminars, workshops, and courses in the Jordanian educational sector should include programs and interventions that challenge perceived gender norms. These results have significant practical and clinical implications that help understand EDV in a poorly understood context and provide the groundwork for further research on the EDV problem in Jordan, addressing a lacuna in the literature on violence against Jordanian women.

The role of patriarchal structure and gender stereotypes in cyber dating abuse: A qualitative examination of male perpetrators experiences

“…Thus, their achievement of the societal ideal of masculinity is tied to social status as they avoid the shame and stigmatization brought on by being viewed as deficient in masculinity. This, in turn, contributes to shaping the relationship between men and women based on coercive control and aggression and/or violent behavior (Alsawalqa, 2021a; Alsawalqa, 2021b; Heilman et al., 2017; The Men's Project, & Flood, 2018). The Information and Research Center‐King Hussein Foundation's (2020) study on gender‐based violence in Jordan indicates that married women experience controlling behaviors by their husbands, which include jealousy or anger if they talk to other men, frequent accusations of infidelity, being denied permission to meet even female friends, limiting their contact with family, insisting on knowing their whereabouts at all times, and experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional violence.…”

“…We recruited male students who engaged in digital mischief against a female romantic partner via social media (WhatsApp, Facebook) and mobile phone through purposeful convenience sampling from a government university in Amman, the capital of Jordan, who are easily accessible during our research into the effects of e‐dating violence against female university students (Alsawalqa, 2021a). This method made it possible to get to know the males and communicate with and meet them.…”

“…Little is generally known about premarital romantic relationships in the Jordanian context, particularly CDA (Alsawalqa, 2021a), and even less so within the Arabic context. Given the momentum of studies focusing on abuse and violence against women and girls (economic, sexual, electronic, emotional, psychological, and physical) in Jordan, there is a lack of research on multiple topics such as gender patterning, males as powerful members of social groups, and men's perceptions and experiences of critical gender issues and the gender gap (Alsawalqa, 2021a(Alsawalqa, , 2021b. In 2021, Jordan's Assistant Director of Public Security, Ayman Al-Awaisha, stated that there had been 9225 cybercrimes in 2021, 43% related to threats, blackmail, and insults (Almamlaka, 2021).…”

“…The results of a qualitative study of Jordanian females who have experienced CDA showed that the motives of the male perpetrators included enjoyment of exerting control and domination of women, earning money, sexual exploitation, peer pressure, and revenge and anger owing to abandonment (Alsawalqa, 2021a). To our knowledge, the present study is one of the first to address the phenomenon of CDA from the perspective of male perpetrators in Jordan.…”

“…Moreover, Jordanian society still has some traditions and customs that foster honor killing and restrict women's mobility outside of the home. As romantic relationships and dating before marriage are not accepted, the consequences for violating these norms can be dire and may amount to female homicide (Alsawalqa, 2021a, b). Jordanian women are arbitrarily detained without charge or trial for leaving home without male family members' permission, “absence”, and relationships outside marriage (zina).…”