Resistance of Women Survivors of Sexual Violence in Social Media

This research focuses on the forms of resistance developed by women survivors of Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSV) or Kekerasan Gender Berbasis Siber (KGBS) on social media. This research aims to describe and analyze those forms of resistance. This paper uses the resistance theory of James Scott to identify forms of victim resistance and uses SWOT analysis to evaluate the results that have been carried out. The samples of this research are social media users, specifically on Instagram and Twitter, and public figures who were experiencing sexual violence on those media. This qualitative research has been conducted with a gender perspective and primary data as a data collection. The results showed that the forms of women’s resistance were public education through social media, prosecuting and threatening perpetrators, and self-acceptance. Based on SWOT analysis, these resistance forms have enabled victims to expose cases of sexual violence in cyberspace using social media and open dialogue with social media, and increase public awareness. This research seeks to show a tangible form of women’s resistance to sexual violence on social media. Although it cannot eliminate patriarchal culture in society’s view of sexual violence, these forms of women’s resistance can affect people effectively so that gradually people can recognize forms of sexual violence in cyberspace and no longer blame the victim.


A. Introduction
The development of information and communication technology has encouraged unlimited access to interaction, which at the same time makes it easier for every individual to know the behavior of global society.Social media, as a product of globalization, is an information and communication medium in a network (online) that facilitates the interaction of its users to exchange information, opinions and interests (Anwar, 2017: 137).Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia (APJII) noted that until 2020, social media users in Indonesia reached 73.7% of the total population, of which 23.7% were aged 15 to 24 years as the age group with the highest percentage (Asosiasi Penyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia, 2020: 8).
Currently, various social media platforms are popular in the community, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram, and WhatsApp, which is based on a survey conducted by Pew. Research Center (2018), Instagram is the most popular media among teenagers with 72% of users, then Facebook with 51%, and Twitter with 32%.
Although access to social media has positive impacts such as expanding social networks so that individuals can be connected to each other, it cannot be denied that these media also have negative impacts, such as the emergence of social deviations (Hayati, 2021: 44).Forms of deviation that occurs is cyberviolence, such as cyberbullying, online harassment, cyber dating abuse, revenge porn, dan cyberstalking (Backe, Lilleston, & McCleary-Sills, 2018: 136).Sexual violence is a form of genderbased violence which is defined as an act that causes physical, sexual or psychological damage or suffering; including threats of certain acts, coercion, and deprivation of liberty (Fahham, Ariefa, Hakim, Tedja, & Susiana, 2019: 1).
Gender-based violence that uses technology (internet) is referred to as Kekerasan Gender Berbasis Siber (KGBS) or Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSV), namely the act of attacking a person's body, gender identity and sexuality using technology (Hayati, 2021: 44).Patchin and Hinduja (2020: 140) shows that the most frequent forms of harassment on social media are comments on posts (22.5%), spreading rumors (20.1%), and sending private messages (12.2%).According to Zhong, Kebbell, and Webster (2020: 8) there is what is called disinhibition in online spaces as a tendency to feel safe and free that encourages someone to do sexual violence in social media.The use of social media is a place for someone to get satisfaction; which can be obtain from seeing and commenting on the object he sees (Fardouly, Willburger, & Vertanian, 2017: 1389).Yudha and Tobing (2017: 436) explain that sexual violence is not only a matter of sex but an abuse of power or authority possessed by someone.Even though men are consider to be more dominant in sexual relations, men can also be victims of sexual violence (Atmadja, 2020: 2).Thus, women have a higher risk of TFSV where as many as 38.7% of women have experienced sexual violence in the digital realm, 4% higher than the percentage of men who have also experienced (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020: 140).This is due to inherent stereotype differences, in which women are the sex most often stereotyped, while the most common stereotypes attached to women highlight beauty, slenderness (body shape), and sexual attractiveness as the center (Ward & Grower, 2020: 179).
The rise of the TFSV phenomenon needs special attention because of its impact on social life, especially women who are often victims of this violence.Some of the impacts include (1) access to freedom of expression, (2) reduced participation of women in the public space, (3) increased anxiety when socializing in the media, (4) and the emergence of various psychological problems (Amnesty International, 2018: 22).There are various forms of victims respons to dealing with sexual violence.
Social media is a platform as a space that can generate creativity, public testimony, and also social interaction (Vitis & Gilmour, 2016: 6); currently also used by its users to confront TFSV as the #MeToo movement has done on Twitter, by uploading tweets that use the MeToo hashtag (Bogen, Bleiweiss, Leach, & Orchowski, 2019: 3).
The efforts of women who are victims of TFSV are interesting and important for discussion, to find out the further impact of this problem, and to identify what actions can be taken when facing cases of sexual violence.In particular, by analyzing the forms of resistance or resistance of the sub-dominant group to the dominant party (Scott, 1985: 247); namely forms of resistance and defense of women in social media such as Instagram and Twitter which are currently popular media which on the other hand have a high vulnerability to TFSV.
Studies on sexual violence in cyberspace or Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence have been carried out by several researchers as previously described.However, this research attempts to look at forms of women's resistance as survivors of sexual violence on social media as a form of knowledge that several actions can be taken to fight violence, especially on social media such as Instagram and Twitter.This knowledge can be an example of what victims of sexual violence can do in cyberspace without feeling confused.
Based on the explanation above, this research uses James Scott's resistance theory to assist in seeing the forms of resistance carried out by women in the realm of TFSV.This research uses a qualitative approach because it is considered to be more in line with feminist principles, which promote equality and oppose objectification and subordination (Lewis-Beck, Bryman, & Liao, 2004: 380).A qualitative approach is considered more appropriate than using a survey which cannot be relevant when used on issues such as violence and sexuality.In addition, this study uses primary data as a data collection technique regarding cases of sexual violence in cyberspace.This study aims to look at women's resistance to sexual violence in cyber space, namely in any efforts made by utilizing technology, mostly social media.If sexual violence can be carried out in cyberspace, resistance can also be carried out using the same media.Therefore, the author uses primary data in the form of accounts from women victims of cyber violence on social media to obtain data related to the forms of resistance carried out by women.
Therefore, the samples used in this study were Instagram and Twitter accounts, namely Gita Savitri Devi's Instagram account, Via Vallen's Instagram account, and Cinta Kuya's Twitter account.The sample is determined based on several criteria: 1).A woman who experienced sexual violence on social media, 2).Speak up regarding harassment received using social media, 3).His case was noticed and received a response from many people.In addition, this research also uses the SWOT analysis framework (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to evaluate forms of resistance by women.In other words, SWOT analysis is used as a tool for data analysis of the forms of resistance that have been carried out.

The Cause of Kekerasan Gender Berbasis Siber (KGBS) or Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSV)
Even though there is an assumption that the clothing or appearance displayed by the victim on social media is a factor that encourages the perpetrator to commit harassment, several studies have proven that this is not entirely true.A woman who covers her genitals often becomes a victim of verbal harassment with a negative connotation (Rahman, 2019: 12).Expressions regarding the factor of clothing for accepting suggestive or obscene comments or blaming female body parts as a driving factor for harassment are only assumptions that come out from people who are sexist and biased towards women.Surveys prove that sexual violence can happen to anyone of any appearance; whether wearing miniskirts, shirts, jeans, or even long skirts, robes, and hijab (Syalsabhila, Turnip, & Vitalio, 2020).This data shows that blaming the victim's clothes as the cause of sexual violence can be broken and is no longer relevant.
In general, several factors that can influence physical and sexual violence against women are related to four main factors, namely individual factors, partner factors, sociocultural factors, and economic factors.(Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Perlindungan Anak, 2017).However, in the context of social media, there are two main factors in cases of harassment, namely: 1). the perpetrator is trying to get attention (evidenced by using a fake account), 2).A caption of the victim's account leads the perpetrator to harass (Maghfiroh & Muqoddam, 2018: 159).This factor is also related to online toxic disinhibition, which is a specials behavior that is only shown by perpetrators online because they use fake identities so that they feel free to do anything with their false identities (Zhong, Kebbell, & Webster, 2020: 1).Factors that influence the behavior of sexual violence on social media such as the desire to have fun, habits, curiosity, seeking satisfaction, as a result of watching porn videos, being provoked, having been a victim of sexual violence on social media and strengthening friendships (Rahmatina & Yuwono, 2019: xiv).
Resistance of Women Survivors of Sexual Violence in Social Media

Forms of Sexual Violence from TSFV and Its Impact
There are various forms of TSFV behavior that are rife today.These forms correspond to the receipt of some case reports by Komisi Nasional (Komnas) Perempuan in 2020 as follows : 1. Cyber harassment: sending texts to hurt, scare, threaten, and annoy.
2. Cyber hacking: a crime that occurs when someone uses technology to illegally enter or infiltrate a computer network system with the aim of changing someone's information and defaming the victim's reputation.
3. Malicious distribution: threats of sharing personal photos or videos; insults made with the help of technology, computers and/or the internet in which a person spreads false information, publishes defamatory material about a person on a website or sends e-mails containing slander to all friends or family of the victim with the aim of defaming reputation.
5. Impersonation or cloning: use of technology to impersonate the victim or duplicate the identity of another person in order to gain access to the victim's personal information, embarrass the victim, or forcefully contact the victim.
6. Surveillance or cyber stalking: use of technology to stalk and monitor the victim's activity or behavior that creates fear or insecurity in the victim.
7. Revenge porn: the activity of spreading someone's intimate photos or videos online without permission as a form of revenge and aims to damage the victim's life in the real world or embarrass.
8. Sexting: the activities of perpetrators who deliberately send intimate pictures or messages with a sexual tone with the intention of harassing the victim.9. Online grooming: the attitude of the perpetrator to approach the victim and build an emotional connection with someone in cyberspace to gain the victim's trust.
According to Komnas Perempuan ( 2021), the highest type of cyber violence is malicious distribution, followed by online grooming, non-consensual intimate image (sometimes called revenge porn), and cyber harassment.This data shows that technology has facilitated perpetrators of sexual violence in such a way as to trigger victims with threatening actions, sending indecent images, and other illegal action.Komnas Perempuan (2021) said that sexual violence on social media generally begin with cyber-grooming or constant interaction in cyberspace with someone who is focuses on sexual treatment.That treatment is camouflaged to misuse digital content and or the victim's identity to carry out coercion and threats; forced to send personal photos and videos or video calls with sexual fantasies.Forms of violence and sexual violence in cyberspace also stem from socially constructed beliefs and attitudes about gender and sexuality (including victim blaming and the victim's shame and stigma) as well as the perpetrator's motivation for power and control over the victim.(Henry & Powell, 2016: 2).
As the forms of sexual violence in cyberspace, it is understandable that non-physical violence has become something that often occurs and is experienced by women, which can harm victims.Harassment carried out using social media can affect the emotional or psychological side of the victim (Karacan, 2021: 72).Several victims tried to share their experiences in a harassment case, but instead of receiving negative responses such as blaming the victim or victim blaming.Forms of blaming the victim can be in the form of not believing the victim's story, blaming the victim, lowering the level of harassment received, and other unpleasant treatment by those closest to them; friends, family, relatives, or people who work in certain agencies (Wulandari & Krisnani, 2020: 189).
However, when talking about social media, people who don't know the victim can also blame the victim so that the victim is afraid to tell stories.These conditions prove that gender stereotypes, especially women, have a role in the life of society.Instead of asking for protection, they can't even tell a story because they see it as taboo or should not talk about it.In the end, many victims decided to keep everything to themselves for fear of other people's responses or the public's response, and it also makes women vulnerable to sexual violence.

Forms of Resistance by Survivors of TFSV According to James Scott's Resistance Theory
Resistance is an effort of opposition by groups or individuals who oppressed by a dominant.James Scott defines resistance as all actions taken by inferior people or groups thats intend to reduce or refute the claims made by a superiors groups against them.Scott (1985: 11) showed that a minority group must have willing to fight.Scott (1985: 317) divides resistance into two, namely public resistance and covert resistance.Public resistance can encourage the formation of social movements or actions, this is due to the emergence of collective awareness of the feeling of being oppressed, marginalized, and dominated, which makes them move to fight.Resistance can be in the form of conflicts, demonstrations, or conveying aspirations to related parties to voice their grievances (Nurrahman, 2019: 2).Whatever its form, public resistance is a statement of attitude that has applied through action against all forms of injustice.Meanwhile, covert resistance is the opposite of action; defend yourself without taking real action.
The two types are distinguished based on the articulation of resistance, forms, characteristics, and social cultural areas, in which public resistance characterized by organic, systematic, cooperative and selfless principles.Resistance occurs irregularly, individual tendencies, and does not contain the impact of change in society (Altamir, 2021: 82).In interacting with the dominant group, the dominated group uses two kinds of transcripts or scripts which are usually done, namely public transcripts and hidden transcripts.The public transcript is a text that regulates the roles played by the dominant group; speech, attitude, and behavior (Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts Revised ed.Edition, 1992).
In other words, hidden transcripts only done by people who are in the same lines; oppressed by the rulers.Those who are dominated demonstrate submissive, obedient, and defeated attitudes and behaviors, while the dominant party as shown as strong, powerful, and victorious.In simple terms, there are patterns of interaction, attitudes, behavior, and imagery that produced by both those in power and the controller.In detail, there are three general forms of hidden transcripts; anonymity, euphemism, and grumbling (Huda, 2020: 23-24).Those forms are commonly used by the sub-dominant group against the dominant group.James Scott's theory of resistance is used in this research to describe women's resistance to sexual harassment on social media.In this case, women are individuals or groups who are vulnerable to becoming victims of sexual harassment.In addition, the presence of technology has opened a new discourse on sexual harassment in the digital world, causing women to become more vulnerable to being involved in cases of harassment.Resistance does not always mean fighting to undermine power but rather trying to get out of inferiority.Women are a gender group that often experiences subordination, objectification, and negative stereotypes or prejudices.Therefore resistance is needed, and we have to give tangible action.However, James Scott's theory of resistance will help to see the forms of resistance carried out by women as victims of sexual harassment on social media.

a. Public Education as a Form of Resistance
Providing information to the public about bad experiences with gender violence is a way for victims to report and at the same time teach viewers that gender violence should not be perpetrated.

Figure 1. cyberspace education
The case of violence experienced by @gitasav on Instagram shows that Gita's resistance is to educate the viewer by responding to comments that contain elements of violence and Herman (1989: 48) mentions that rape culture is behaviors related to harassment cases blaming the victim, sexual objectification, slut shaming, justifying, and allowing harassment.As a form of education, the victim also shared this experience on Instagram Story, a feature on Instagram to share everyday experiences, and also created public opinion on his page, gitasav.com, as a form of self-defense.Writing about gender violence that he experienced is as follows: "I was struck by a direct message from one of my followers on Instagram which said that if a woman experiences sexual violence, then she must do some self-reflection.Take another look at the way she dresses and why she invites men to harass her.He said again, Islam has regulated how women should dress in order to avoid things that are not desirable.Women have to cover their private parts because men have bigger appetites and women's nakedness can trigger bad things."(gitasav.com,30/09/2018) "Okay, I agree that Allah SWT requires His female followers to cover their genitals.But I strongly disagree if the reason for covering the genitals is to avoid harassment.Hi, have you heard of SELF-CONTROL?Every human being is given lust, but also given logic of thought.Not only lust to grope or even rape other girls, but also hold your lust must be restrained.And it's not fault of the victim if the perpetrator can't hold back his lust.It's never about the women's clothes.In fact, many women who have covered their genitals wear sharia clothes, but are still subject to abuse."(gitasav.com, 30/09/2018) According to Scott (1985: 288), one of the survivor's efforts described earlier is in the form of a public transcript, which can attract the public to know about the conflict that is going on and experienced by the oppressed group.In this case, the provision of education by victims is part of the resistance to the current rampant TFSV cases, especially those that they experienced directly.Providing education is useful as a driving force for creating critical awareness of the TFSV phenomenon.This is certainly related to resistance to public views that tend to normalize the occurrence of violence, such as the result of not able to maintain an attitude and according to Beauvoir (1989: 197) is just a myth against women.
As Scott sees that @gitasav, as a survivor of violence, encourages people to have the same awareness of what victims feel is a form of public resistance, which at the same time tries to encourage real action or a resistance movement.Resistance can appear as an aspiration for related parties to voice their grievances (Nurrahman, 2019: 2).

b. Prosecute and Threaten Perpetrators via Social Media Figure 2. Prosecute and Threaten Perpetrators via Social Media
In contrast to providing public education about the forms of TFSV or KGBS, victims can also mediate and also file charges against the perpetrators for the violence they have committed.Prosecution can be in the form of threats of criminal penalties and threats of disseminating information to the public.However, dissemination of information can only be done if the perpetrator uses an original account, while threats of criminal penalties can be carried out in accordance with the enactment of the Undang-Undang ITE.
Based on the violence experienced by @viavallen through her personal messages.The resistance of Via Vallen can be seen when Via tries to sue the perpetrators so they don't continue their violation.According to Yudha and Tobing (2017: 440), the reaction of anger expressed by the victim has entered the works phase, where after the victim feels angry, sad, and disappointed, the victim still tries to talk to the perpetrator about his actions that have exceeded the norm.
Even though, in this case, the survivor performs a euphemism or refinement of words as one of the common forms in hidden transcripts (Huda, 2020: 95).Gita's showing the hidden transcripts by saying "Are u DRUNK???" on her comments.According to Scott (1992: 10) is done by using a more refined word structure to convey his anger.However, in this case, the victim is carrying out hidden resistance, namely solving problems between conflicting parties because they have equal status (Scott, 1992: 3).

c. Self-Acceptance as a Form of Resistance
Not only directs resistance against a perpetrator, but also forms of resistance from victims which lead to self-acceptance of the violence they experience.Refers to the individual's coping process in dealing with adverse events that are problem-solving and emotional-oriented (Maryam, 2017: 103).Like TFSV that occurs on social media, victims often decide to delete their profile photos or stop using social media platforms (Vitak, Chanda, & Steiner, 2017: 1233).In this context, self-acceptance is a form of emotional resistance that develops in victims when they try to make peace with circumstances.
Regarding the case of violence faced by a Twitter account named @cintarahmaniaa, it can be seen that the victim experienced the effects of trauma as she said, "I don't feel confident anymore."Based on the form of resistance described by Scott, the resistance exerted by victims tends to be in a covert form, in which there is a tendency for victims to feel unsure about the response to the violence they experience.Resistance carried out secretly has individual tendencies, and does not impact change in societies (Altamir, 2021: 82).
Nonetheless, the victim brought this case as a public transcript so that the incident could be made public (Scott, 1992: 4); and get support to solve the problem.Moreover, the Twitter account @cintarahmaniaa is currently nowhere to be found, which indicates the victim's withdrawal from social media Twitter.According to Hite, Voelker, and Robertson (2014: 26), this condition is technical anonymity for the loss of the victim's identity in the media because it requires listeners or interlocutors so that the problem can be resolved.Based on the SWOT table above, it is known that public education as carried out by @gitasav on her Instagram has advantages and disadvantages as well as positive and negative responses that can be obtain.The provision of education through social media is considering to have a wide readership because Instagram is the most popular social media in Indonesia.Not only that, the educational content provided by Gita Savitri is also published on her page, namely gitasav.comwhose also shared via Instagram so that it can be access by everyone who has an internet network.Even so, there are weaknesses that must be considered that is not all readers are interested in the education provided by Gita Savitri and are only limited to fans who are followers on social media and people who do have an interest in the topic of gender violence in cyberspace.

d. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis
The opportunities obtained through public education on social media are being able to increase public awareness, open discussions about gender violence in cyber space and minimize the occurrence of victim blaming or blaming the victim for the violence received.With this, it is expected to receive support from the public who have a critical awareness of how important it is to recognize gender violence in cyberspace which is often considered insignificant.So that people can vocally speak out and oppose gender violence, especially in cyber space or social media.However, it is still undeniable that threats can come from a patriarchal culture that is already rooted in society, making it difficult to change it.Apart from that, the culture of blaming the victim also often uses religion as a tool to legitimize the victim's clothing which is considered to be less covered up.So instead of focusing on the perpetrators who commit gender violence, the community is busy questioning the behavior and clothes of the victims while surfing social media.@viavallen tries to give a deterrent effect to the perpetrators and stop the perpetrators' actions.A form of threats given by Via is carried out by promising not to reveal the identity of the perpetrator if the perpetrator doesnt stops his action and wants to change for the better.This is because perpetrators and victims have the same identity, namely as figures known to the public.However, it is possible that this deterrent effect is only temporary and allows violence to occur against other victims who will not be able to resist like Via.This can happen because the perpetrator attacks the victim who does not have equal or higher power than the perpetrator.
Even so, the mediation carried out by Via through public transcripts, namely social media, allows the perpetrator to self-reflect and understand Resistance of Women Survivors of Sexual Violence in Social Media be the cing f the that his actions were not right so as to prevent the appearance of other actors.However, it needs to be understood that there are bad scenarios that can occur such as the possibility of experiencing physical violence in the future if the perpetrator holds a grudge.Of course, this form of threat is not a certain thing but only a possibility that can occur, so self-protection is needed as part of resistance.However, rather than self-defence, it is even more important to 'recognize' sexual violence in cyberspace so that further action can be taken.Furthermore, self-acceptance as a form of resistance is carried out by the Twitter account @ cintarahmaniaa.As is known, the process of selfacceptance after the occurrence of sexual violence is always in the emotional realm of the victim.Therefore, the resistance carried out by Love can help victims to bounce back from adversity and prevent victims from blaming themselves.In self-acceptance, victims are given time to reflect on what happened to them and understand that it was not the victim's fault.Even so, it cannot be denied that there is trauma that leaves an impression on the victim so that the victim feels insecure and hesitates when he wants to upload photos on social media.This will later affect the level of women's participation in social media.
In terms of opportunity, when a victim is in the process of self-acceptance, she has time to take a break from social media and think about future actions again.This can be done as a self-defense effort for victims of sexual violence.Even so, there is a threat, namely that there are parties who blame the victim which affects the victim's self-acceptance process and the possibility of experiencing sexual violence again in the future.This shows that sexual violence in cyberspace will not just stop.Survivors of sexual violence also have the opportunity to become victims again.

C. Conclusion
The results of this research indicate that the forms of resistance from survivors of sexual violence on social media are public education through social media, prosecute and threaten perpetrators, and self-acceptance.Through the SWOT analysis it is known that in these forms of resistance it is possible for victims to expose cases of sexual violence in cyberspace using social media and open dialogue with the public so as to increase the critical awareness of the community.Even though it cannot completely eliminate patriarchal culture in the eyes of society when viewing sexual violence, this resistance can continue to be carried out so that people can gradually recognize forms of sexual violence in cyberspace and no longer blame victims for cases of violence.

Resistance of Women Survivors of Sexual Violence in Social Media
This research seeks to contribute to women's studies regarding real forms of resistance to sexual violence, especially in cyberspace.This research also contains a SWOT analysis as an evaluation of the forms of resistance that women can develop.In addition, it is also equipped with an analysis based on James Scott's theory of resistance to see the forms of resistance carried out by survivors of sexual violence in cyberspace.This study found that sexual violence in cyberspace can be overcome in the same way by using social media to provide resistance against sexual violence in cyberspace.

Table 1 . SWOT Analysis on Public Education by Gita Savitri
Resistance of Women Survivors of Sexual Violence in Social Media

Table 2 . SWOT Analysis on Prosecute and Threaten Perpetrators by Via Vallen
Source: made by researchers, 2022

Tabel 3. SWOT Analysis on Self-Acceptance by Cinta Rahmania
Source: made by researchers, 2022