An Intersectional and Ecological Approach to Undestanding Cyber-sexual Violence Vulnerability: Connecting Individual, Environmental, and Sociocultural Factors

Cyber-sexual violence is an emerging social and public health concern, yet our knowledge and understanding of this issue is limited. In light of this, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the factors that create a vulnerability for cyber-sexual violence at each level of social ecology, using an ecological and intersectional framework as a guide. In order to fulfill the above research objective, a cross-sectional research design was employed in which a sample of Canadian adults completed an online self-guided survey. The results of this study indicate that cyber-sexual violence vulnerability can be conceptualized as emerging from an interplay among the individual level variables of age and gender identity; the microsystem level variables of time spent online, time spent using online dating sites, and engagement in sexting; as well as the chronosystem variable of sexual violence victimization history. Moreover, when considered independently, engagement in sexting and sexual violence victimization history were the sole variables that significantly predicted cyber-sexual violence vulnerability. The results of this study indicate that in order to establish effective cyber-sexual violence prevention and intervention, we must take into account the various aspects of an individual’s identity, environment, and experiences as well as the sociocultural context in which they exist.Ph.D