Prevalence Of Online Harassment: To What Extent Is This Phenomenon Common?
Cyberbullying is a tremendously current problem. Due to this, more and more studies are being carried out in this regard.
Thanks to this, there is increasingly more information, which allows us to act more effectively against this problem. In the following paragraphs we will be able to discover some of the most shocking figures related to this type of behavior and What is known about the prevalence of online harassment based on different factors
Before delving into the statistics behind the issue of the prevalence of online harassment, it is important to know the implications of this concept. Digital harassment, online harassment, virtual harassment, cyberbullying, or cyberbullying, refers to those behaviors by which an aggressor uses digital means to attack the victim
These means can be all those related to the use of technologies such as telephones, computers, social networks, emails, text messages, etc. These means, on many occasions, grant the person who carries out the attack an anonymity that they would not otherwise have. Likewise, They serve to attack quickly and achieve great range, regardless of physical distance to separate him from the victim.
Later we will delve into the prevalence of online harassment, but first it is necessary to continue knowing the characteristics of this phenomenon. Cyberbullying can take many forms. It can occur by falsely accusing the victim of a certain behavior. Also, making publications with false information about her, even repeatedly.
Others choose to collect real data from their future victim in order to defame in a more credible and effective way. They can go so far as to monitor the person’s digital activity, using different programs and tools to do so. Virtual harassment can occur by contacting people around the victim.
Another way in which this behavior can be carried out is by revealing the real identity of a user of a platform in which they interact with an anonymous profile, exposing your personal data to all other users. Even the aggressor can present himself as a victim, stating that it is the person really attacked who is harassing him.
Although there are more ways to perform this behavior, these are the ones that are carried out most frequently.
Data about the prevalence of online harassment
After describing in general terms what this behavior consists of, it is time to review the data on the prevalence of online harassment. The most recent studies that have been carried out in the United States indicate that more than 4 out of 10 citizens have been a victim of this type of harassment at some point in their lives This study included six different forms of aggression.
These forms were physical threats, stalking, continuous harassment, sexual harassment, offensive appeals and humiliation. According to measurements carried out in 2014, 2017 and 2020, all of them are experiencing growth. While it is true that between 2017 and 2020, the total number of people attacked has stabilized, the number of victims of serious harassment has increased
What the data on the prevalence of online harassment reflects according to this study is that, if we focus on the most severe forms of cyberbullying, we would be talking about 15% of those affected in 2014, 18% in 2017 and 25% in the last review carried out, which dates back to 2020. As can be seen, the upward line is clear and worrying. Regarding the total number of digital attacks, in 2014 there were 35% and in both 2017 and 2020, 41%.
One of the motivations seen in half of the cyberbullying cases included in the study is politics. And it is that 50% of those attacked, that is, 20% of the total of US citizens who participated in the investigation, said they had suffered virtual harassment in retaliation for their political leanings
In addition to politics, the study on the prevalence of online harassment indicates that there are other factors that can trigger this behavior. Some of them would be the gender of the person attacked or their racial origin, which would imply affronts of a sexist or racist nature, in each case.
The use of social networks for cyberbullying
Likewise, data on the prevalence of online harassment show that, among all the digital tools that aggressors use to attack their victims, there is one that stands out above the rest, and it is none other than social networks. No less than 3 out of every 4 cases of abuse that were recorded in the study came from some social network
Taking it to the total American population, it means that 31%, which makes almost a third of citizens, have at some point experienced aggressive behavior towards them through social networks. Furthermore, just over 80% of affected users consider that those responsible for these websites do not take the necessary measures to prevent this type of events.
A third of the total population, according to the prevalence data of online harassment, would agree that hold those responsible for the respective social networks legally responsible for digital harassment behaviors in which these happen. All of this data comes from the study carried out in 2020 by the Pew Research Center, with a sample of more than 10,000 participants.
Prevalence of online harassment according to age
But they are not the only conclusions that have been drawn about the prevalence of online harassment. No less than 90% of those surveyed consider that online harassment, such as that which occurs on social networks and other platforms, is a problem to be taken into account and action should be taken against.
If a distribution is made by age, some differences can be seen in the profile of the victim. In that sense, the younger you are, the more likely you are to receive a digital attack The group of participants under 30 years of age accounts for almost two-thirds of victims. That is, 64% of people up to 30 years old who participated in the study have suffered cyberbullying on some occasion.
In the next group, the one between 30 and 49 years old, there are 50% of victims. One in two participants of this age has suffered virtual bullying at some point. In people aged 50 or over, this figure drops to 25%, which represents one in four. One of the factors involved may be the level of activity and presence on social networks, which is higher in younger people.
Cyberbullying based on gender and sexual orientation
If we take into account gender instead of age, the data on the prevalence of online harassment is also interesting. In general terms, There is no significant difference between the harassment received by men (43%) and that received by women (38%) But differences are observed depending on the type of harassment received.
In this sense, men receive more attacks such as physical threats (16% compared to 11%) or are insulted in some way (35% of male victims compared to 26% of female victims). The most frequent type of harassment among women is sexual harassment, with 16% of them being victims of this type, compared to 5% of men. Stalking is also higher towards women (13%) than towards men (9%).
Crossing the data on age and gender, it is observed that the population segment most likely to be a victim of online harassment is young women, under 35 years old. A third of that group has been a victim of these behaviors. Besides, Women are more likely to report digital harassment behavior than men
Although men, on average, receive a slightly higher percentage of digital attacks than women, they are the ones who believe to a greater extent that this is a problem that should be addressed (61% compared to 48% of men who think the same) . The perception of the act of harassment as annoying is twice as powerful in women (34%) than in men (14%).
Sexual orientation also influences the prevalence of online harassment Homosexual or bisexual people receive significantly more cyberbullying than heterosexual people. Of the first group, approximately 70% declare themselves victims of this type of aggression, and 50% would also be victims of severe forms of aggression.
On the other hand, for the heterosexual population, it has been detected that the victims represent approximately 40% of the total. If we focus only on serious attacks, in any of the forms we saw above, that figure would be reduced to 23%.
