‘I pretend to be an ideal woman just to keep their mouths shut’: Bangladeshi women’s contestation of abuse through social media platforms

ABSTRACTThe current paper examines how women in Bangladesh contest abuse within patriarchal systems of control. In many cases, women will often decide the extent to which they adopt a particular technology to prevent experiences of abuse on social media platforms. In the current study, we analysed how women's online presence is controlled by patriarchal norms which impede their agency and recontextualise their empowerment through social media. As such, we rely on the narratives of three women in Dhaka, Bangladesh to understand how they exercise agency on social media platforms to ensure their own empowerment and avoid (further) experiences of abuse. Although we recognise that ICT for Development (ICT4D) can be a crucial way to ensure women’s empowerment, we argue that, as a male-dominated space, social media platforms promote restrictive and unequal gender stereotypes that require women to find alternative strategies to challenge and resist existing patriarchal structures.KEYWORDS: Abuseempowermentagencymale-dominated spacewomensocial media platforms AcknowledgementsThe authors are grateful to the interview participants for giving their time and providing their expertize. Their insights, knowledge and experiences have been incredibly valuable to this study. Thank you also to Kylie Martin and Professor JaneMaree Maher for providing insightful feedback which has assisted in the further development of the central arguments and theoretical framework.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 A length of material worn over the chest and thrown back around the shoulders, typically with a salwar kameez, by women from South Asia (Oxford learner’s dictionaries)2 Bangladeshi synonyms for prostitute.Additional informationNotes on contributorsHannah KloseHannah Klose is a PhD Candidate in Criminology at Monash University and a Teaching Associate at RMIT University. Hannah’s PhD examines girls’ and young women's individual experiences of online gender-based violence (OGBV) perpetrated through social media platforms. Drawing on a continuum framework, her thesis specifically focusses on how girls and young women understand and respond to their experiences of OGBV.Lubna JebinLubna Jebin is an Associate Professor in Public Administration at Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh and a PhD Candidate in Sociology, Monash University, Australia. Her doctoral research is on Bangladeshi women’s experiences of violence in the Saudi Arabian paid domestic labour regime. Lubna’s particular focus is on gendered labour, women’s body, gendered violence, and women’s strategic negotiation practices.