Basic Definitions

These definitions aim to provide a foundational comprehension of gender-based violence, encompassing its manifestation in digital violence scenarios.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV): is harm, or threats to harm, committed against a person(s) based on actual or perceived sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or other such sex/gender-related characteristics.

Gender-based violence may include physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and financial abuse, or threats of abuse. People of all genders, sexual orientations and gender-identities may experience gender-based violence, but women and girls are impacted the most. 1

GBV Examples:

  • Stalking

  • Physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence

  • Non-partner sexual violence

  • Sexual violence, including rape

  • Sexual harassment

  • Forced abortion

  • Forced marriages

For more information on gender-based violence please visit:

GBV Online-Based Examples:

  • Cyberstalking

  • Imaged-based sexual abuse

  • Psychological violence

  • Threats of physical sexual and other violence

  • Sexual or other types of harassment.

  • Sex and gender trolling.

  • Sexting.

  • Publishing intimate images, videos, or audio clips without consent.

  • Accessing private data through hacking.

Digital Violence: refers to various forms of harassment, degradation, discrimination, or social isolation on the internet or by electronic means of communication. 2

Online Sexual Harassment (OSH): includes offensive, humiliating, or intimidating conduct that is unwanted or unwelcome and of a sexual nature. 3

  • Other ways these terms are classified as; Digital Harassment, Cyber-Harassment, Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence, Image-Based Sexual Abuse, Technology-Facilitated domestic and family violence, Technology Facilitated Coercive Control, Digital Coercive Control. 4

The locations of digital violence are diverse: social networks, messenger apps, chat rooms, gaming platforms or the email inbox are just some of them.

  • Offensive name-calling

  • Purposeful embarrassment

  • Stalking

  • Physical threats

  • Harassment over a sustained period of time

  • Sexual harassment

  • Cyberstalking: a variety of behaviors that involve repeated threats or harassment through the use of digital comms technology causing the victim to feel afraid or concerned for their safety

  • Intimate cyberstalking or “online obsessional relation intrusion” – most existing research shows stalkers likely to be potential, current, or former partner

  • Online sexual harassment: includes offensive humiliating or intimidating conduct that is unwanted/unwelcome and of a sexual nature 

  • Online victimization: pressure to obtain unwanted sexual cooperation or the dissemination of a victim’s sexual content through the internet.

  • Technology-based coercive behavior: asking someone online for sexual information or posting a sexually suggestive message or picture to someone's online profile.

  • Cyber victimization: refers to receiving sexually explicit images as well as harassment and sexual solicitation

Literature Definitions

These various interpretations represent the diverse perspectives found in academic literature concerning the identification and definition of various instances of online harassment.

Reed, Tolman, and Ward (2016)

“Digital technologies form part of a ‘constellation of tactics’ within abusive relationships, used as tools to achieve certain perpetrator goals”

Marganski & Melander (2018)

“Researchers note that it is no longer accurate to conceptualize intimate partner violence as predominantly a face-to-face encounter between perpetrator and victim”

Legal Definitions

These terms and laws are how states interpret online harassment and digital violence. It is important to note that cyber harassment, cyberstalking, and digital violence’s definitions are interpreted differently by state and there is currently no nationwide agreement on the definitions. Due to this, digital crimes are evaluated differently and some states may not have a regulation for a certain cyber crime.

For example, New York does not have a cyber harassment law at all but they do have a cyberstalking law.

Visit this website to find your state’s regulations on cyber crimes.

(Please keep in mind that you will be leaving this website, computer use can be monitored and this page will still appear in your web history.)

Does your state have a cyber-harassment law?

We currently have California, Texas, Florida, Michigan, and New York highlighted to emphasize key geographic regions and provide a more meaningful comparison across different areas of the country.

Check your state’s laws for more on cyber crimes, or visit this website. (By clicking the link, be aware that your web browsing activity can be monitored, and this page will be saved in your history)

  • Sec. 653.2 PC “Harassment” means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that a reasonable person would consider as seriously alarming, seriously annoying, seriously tormenting, or seriously terrorizing the person and that serves no legitimate purpose.

    • “Of a harassing nature” means of a nature that a reasonable person would consider as seriously alarming, seriously annoying, seriously tormenting, or seriously terrorizing of the person and that serves no legitimate purpose.

    646.9. Stalking. (a) Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or willfully and maliciously harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or her immediate family is guilty of the crime of stalking, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment or by imprisonment in the state prison.

  • Sec. 42.07. HARASSMENT.

    (a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, or embarrass another, the person:

    (1) initiates communication and in the course of the communication makes a comment, request, suggestion, or proposal that is obscene;

    (2) threatens, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person receiving the threat, to inflict bodily injury on the person or to commit a felony against the person, a member of the person's family or household, or the person's property;

    (3) conveys, in a manner reasonably likely to alarm the person receiving the report, a false report, which is known by the conveyor to be false, that another person has suffered death or serious bodily injury;

    (4) causes the telephone of another to ring repeatedly or makes repeated telephone communications anonymously or in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another;

    (5) makes a telephone call and intentionally fails to hang up or disengage the connection;

    (6) knowingly permits a telephone under the person's control to be used by another to commit an offense under this section;

    (7) sends repeated electronic communications in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass, or offend another;

    (8) publishes on an Internet website, including a social media platform, repeated electronic communications in a manner reasonably likely to cause emotional distress, abuse, or torment to another person, unless the communications are made in connection with a matter of public concern;

  • 784.048. Stalking; definitions; penalties. The harassment law is included in the cyberstalking regulation.

    (a) “Harass” means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person which causes substantial emotional distress to that person and serves no legitimate purpose.

    (2) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person commits the offense of stalking, a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

    (3) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person and makes a credible threat to that person commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

    (4) A person who, after an injunction for protection against repeat violence, sexual violence, or dating violence pursuant to s. 784.046, or an injunction for protection against domestic violence pursuant to s. 741.30, or after any other court-imposed prohibition of conduct toward the subject person or that person’s property, knowingly, willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

    (5) A person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks a child under 16 years of age commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

    (7) A person who, after having been sentenced for a violation of s. 794.011, s. 800.04, or s. 847.0135(5) and prohibited from contacting the victim of the offense under s. 921.244, willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks the victim commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

  • 750.411h. Stalking; definitions; violation, penalties; probation, term, conditions; evidence, rebuttable presumption; penalty additional. The harassment law is included in the cyberstalking regulation.

    (c) “Harassment” means conduct directed toward a victim that includes, but is not limited to, repeated or continuing unconsented contact that would cause a reasonable individual to suffer emotional distress and that actually causes the victim to suffer emotional distress. Harassment does not include constitutionally protected activity or conduct that serves a legitimate purpose.
    (d) “Stalking” means a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment of another individual that would cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested and that actually causes the victim to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested.

    (f) “Victim” means an individual who is the target of a willful course of conduct involving repeated or continuing harassment.

    (4) In a prosecution for a violation of this section, evidence that the defendant continued to engage in a course of conduct involving repeated unconsented contact with the victim after having been requested by the victim to discontinue the same or a different form of unconsented contact, and to refrain from any further unconsented contact with the victim, gives rise to a rebuttable presumption that the continuation of the course of conduct caused the victim to feel terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested.

  • Sec. 120.45. Stalking in the fourth degree.

    • There is no specific rule against online harassment, but there is a law against cyber-stalking mentioned above.