By: Haitham Abdallah

As part of the overall efforts of the RDPP-funded Expanding Protection Spaces project, Siren associate has implemented a youth-led Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) between June 2021 and January 2022 under the title of Youth Experiences of Cybercrime Reporting in Amman, Jordan.

This research aimed not only to collect stories to better understand the experiences of online violence of young people living in Amman but, crucially, to empower the researchers (who came from affected groups) to directly analyse the complex inter-related social dynamics of online safety and security.

Young people were cantered at the heart of this process to ensure that data collection was carried out in a conversational style, helping to ease the fears of youth participants who were sharing highly sensitive and personal stories of cybercrime and associated different forms of violence that victims were exposed to. A heavy capacity-building element was a central characteristic of CBPR. That can be explained in short as an approach where interviewees told the stories that mattered to them, then researchers were empowered with knowledge and skills to analyse why these stories were essential and identified means to tackle them.

The research was conducted by age and gender peers; participants were more able to share their experiences that spoke to the conservative, patriarchal and generational barriers they faced to seeking help when targeted online. In short, the research aimed at its core to bring policymakers better to the voice of those affected by collecting authentic experiences that other methods would likely have otherwise missed.

Key findings

The research found that being a victim of online violence can significantly impact individuals. For example, young people who experience such incidents often feel less safe online and may change their behaviour to become more cautious or withdraw from internet use.

The report highlights that the impacts of online violence can be physical and emotional, resulting in self-isolation, a breakdown in familial relations, and financial loss. However, the severity of these impacts depends on many factors, such as the type of crime, the gender of the individual, whether the crime becomes known publicly, and the social norms of the family. The research also found that families can suffer a damaged reputation if the crime becomes known publicly, which can have social and economic implications that can lead to different forms of gender-based violence (GBV) that youth, especially females, suffers from.

Actions to take!

To achieve better protection for youth, a multi-faceted approach is needed to address the root causes and support victims in overcoming its impacts. This could include:

• Increasing awareness about online safety and security: Educating young people about the dangers of cybercrime and how to protect themselves can help prevent them from becoming victims.
• Addressing the root causes of GBV: Addressing the gender-based power imbalances that underlie GBV is critical to reducing its incidence.
• Providing support to victims: Providing emotional, financial, and legal support to victims of cybercrime can help them recover from the negative impacts.
• Enforcing laws and regulations: Enforcing existing laws and regulations to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions can help reduce the incidence of cybercrime.
• Engaging stakeholders: Engaging stakeholders, including the government, law enforcement, civil society organisations, and the private sector, can help raise awareness about the issue and promote action to reduce its negative impacts.

In summary, reducing the negative impact of online violence on young people requires a coordinated effort from all stakeholders to address the root causes, support victims, and enforce laws and regulations.

About the Author: Haitham Abdullah is a researcher and specialist in monitoring, evaluation, and learning in the field of youth and women empowerment in Jordan. With many years of experience working on youth-led and community-based research in the Middle East and North Africa region, Haitham has honed his skills in utilizing participatory and collaborative approaches to produce high-quality research that meaningfully impacts communities and development programs. Moreover, Haitham is the Champion of the MENA Youth CoP.