Social Media Contribution to Violence Against Women in MENA: A Pilot Study Among University Students

This pilot study aims to explore the opinions about social media and its contribution to increasing violence against women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In doing so, the study discusses the forms of violence being practiced against women and the legal actions that need to be taken in order to put an end to violence. A total of 50 female students participated in this pilot study, which adopted a descriptive research approach using an online questionnaire to collect data. Using SPSS descriptive statistics, data were analyzed to answer the research questions. The results showed that the participants agreed that social media affects people's mindset about women and impacts governments to enact penal laws on violence, while less than half of the participants agreed that it increases violence against women. The results also showed the participants' confidence that by taking specific actions on social media, they can draw attention to violence, and that certain challenges act as barriers to constraining violence.