THEORETICAL AND LEGAL ASPECT OF CYBERVIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Abstract

The relevance of the study is explained by the fact that in the society of the 21st century, which is constantly developing and changing, the processes of communication and learning have expanded to the online environment, gaining more and more territory. Social networking applications such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Skype, Twitter, Tik Tok, Zoom, etc., allow people to stay in touch with others while identifying them as potential victims of online abuse. The European Court of Human Rights notes that cyberviolence is a form of domestic violence. The results of sociological studies and statistics demonstrate that the victims of domestic violence in the vast majority of cases are women, and therefore, the commission of cyberviolence threatens women. An analysis of recent publications demonstrates that cyberviolence as a form of domestic violence against women is an issue that is widely discussed by many professionals in the fields of law, psychology, sociology and education. Ukrainian legislation on the protection of women against domestic violence does not define cyberviolence as a form of domestic violence. At the same time, the analysis of judicial practice demonstrates that judges consider cyberviolence to be a form of domestic violence and prosecute the offender to administrative responsibility. All of this necessitates a theoretical exploration of the term “cyberviolence”, which would contribute to the legal definition of the phenomenon, distinguishing it from other concepts and developing efficient ways to prevent and counteract the perpetration of this act. The purpose of the study is the theoretical and legal analysis of the phenomenon of violence in cyberspace and its legal regulation in Ukrainian legislation. The efficient analysis of the research problems was provided by using the methods of interpretation of the law, legal modelling, technical-dogmatic, and comparative methods. In the context of the study, the definitions of cyberbullying and cyberviolence are examined and these concepts are distinguished. The author’s definition of cyberviolence is defined. To interpret cyberviolence as a form of domestic violence, the definitions of “psychological violence” and “sexual violence” given in the Law of Ukraine “On Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence” have been proposed to be improved. The foreign experience of cyberviolence regulation is studied, and it is proposed to identify the cyberviolence forms introduced by Romanian legislation among the cyberviolence forms in Ukrainian legislation. The theoretical provisions and conclusions proposed in the study are of significant value for the development of the theory of state and law in the area under study and for the improvement of the current legislation.