Cyber-Activism Against Sexual Violence: #BringBackOurGirls

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.28939/iam.debats.134-2.3

Keywords:

extreme violence, digital campaigns, gendered violence, post-colonial

Abstract

Over the last few years, many successful campaigns have both denounced women’s vulnerabilities and protested
against gender violence. The success of these campaigns can be gauged by the number of their followers, spreading
the message and involving celebrities and agencies around the world. Those campaigns have put gender inequality and
women’s protests against sexual abuse firmly on the agenda. However, this still raises questions as to both the limits
to and opportunities for cyber-activism in general and in strife-ridden areas in particular. This paper addresses the
influence of digital campaigns against sexual violence, exploring the impact of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, which
covers the kidnapping of a large group of girls in Nigeria by the Boko Haram terrorist group. Among other things, we
find that the campaign narrowly focused on a group (‘The Chibok Girls’), ignoring the vulnerability of many other girls
and young women in Nigeria

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Author Biographies

Ana M. González Ramos, Universidad Pablo Olavide

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1808-0291

Beatriz Revelles-Benavente, Universidad de Granada

És professora ajudant doctora del departament de Filologies Anglesa i Alemanya de la Universidad de Granada i
professora del Màster Erasmus Mundus GEMMA: Estudis de les Dones i de la Literatura de Gènere de la Universitat de Granada. És coeditora de la revista científica Matter: Journal of New Materialist Research i del llibre titulat Teaching Gender: Feminist Responsibilities and Pedagogies in Times of Political Crisis, publicat per l'editorial Routledge (2017).

Verònica Gisbert-Gràcia, Universitat de València

És doctora en Ciències Socials per la Universitat de València. Va cursar el Màster Erasmus Mundus GEMMA: Estudis de les Dones en les Universitats de Granada i Utrecht (2010). Les seues àrees principals d'investigació inclouen les accions col·lectives de dones, els estudis culturals i les polítiques dels afectes. És autora de diversos articles en revistes nacionals i internacionals, així com de capítols de llibre.

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Published

2020-11-30

How to Cite

González Ramos, A. M., Revelles-Benavente, B. . and Gisbert-Gràcia, V. . (2020) “Cyber-Activism Against Sexual Violence: #BringBackOurGirls”, Debats. Journal on culture, power and society, 134(2), pp. 29–41. doi: 10.28939/iam.debats.134-2.3.

Issue

Vol. 134 No. 2 (2020)

Section

SPECIAL ISSUE

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