Characterization of Domestic Violence through Self-disclosure in Social Media: A Case Study of the Time of COVID-19

Domestic violence (DV) can lead to physical, psychological, and/or emotional consequences for its victims. Social media provides a new platform for DV victims to share their personal experiences and seek needed support. The anonymity of social media can potentially provide comfort and safety for victims to disclose their victimization experience. Despite a few efforts in detecting DV from social media, they have focused on differentiating DV-from non-DV-related content, or classifying DV-related content into a few general categories. By conducting an in-depth analysis of the content of DV self-disclosure in social media, this study characterizes DV in multiple aspects for the first time, including victim, perpetrator, relationship, and abuse. Moreover, it identifies the attributes to describe each aspect in detail. Furthermore, we use the social media data generated during the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study to understand the patterns of DV. The research findings of this study have implications for increasing the awareness of DV and designing support for DV victims.