Cyberbullying is a form of violence and tools and resources must be put in place to eradicate and prevent it, as well as strengthen mutual support and create spaces of trust in which to talk about it.

Image of the session
Image of the session. 2024. Font: ICT Point Network. License: All rights reserved.

As part of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Mèdia.cat, the Media Critical Observatory , organized some training sessions. Specifically, last Thursday, November 7, the session focused on cyberbullying of women. The workshop was attended by four expert women who shared experiences and reflections on the issue: lawyer Laia Serra, psychologist Alba Alfageme, expert Selva Orejon and journalist Sara González. Throughout the session, the focus was placed on the fact that cyberbullying is a type of systematic violence, which seeks to silence women and that a response must be given. Along these lines, the importance of pedagogy, of not naturalizing behavior and above all of not minimizing the impact of this digital violence, as it can be equal to or greater than physical violence for various reasons such as, for example, was highlighted the lack of control in networks, the creation of hostile spaces or the impact on dignity and self-esteem. So, the four women experts agreed on the fact that cyberbullying is a form of violence that affects like any other violence and that tools and resources must be put in place to eradicate and prevent it, as well as strengthen mutual support and create spaces of trust where we can talk about it. In this sense, some recommendations were shared within the digital sphere such as, for example, incorporating the double verification factor, strengthening passwords and having information leaks identified. Finally, there was talk of the need to develop a legal framework that addresses the issue, as well as building a collective culture that penalizes certain behaviors.

At the same time, last Thursday November 14, Mèdia.cat organized a second training session that focused on how to talk about the presumption of innocence without discrediting women victims of situations of male violence and which consisted of a exchange of recommendations, resources, advice and tools by journalist Laia Mestre, lawyer Sònia Ricondo, journalist Magda Bandera and journalist Enric Borràs.