EMAN SAMIR ALI

Egypt — No sooner are photos or videos documenting the athletic activities of female sports science students posted on social media than dozens of comments come flooding in. Instead of discussing the athletic performance or academic merit, these comments hyper-focus on the students' bodies, clothing, and personal lives. For many of these young women, cyberspace has morphed into an arena for bullying, harassment, and character assassination, with repercussions spilling over into their psychological well-being, social lives, academic performance, and, in some cases, their future careers.

Offensive Comments Instead of Celebrating Achievement

"A. H.", a student at the Faculty of Sports Science at Qena University, shares that she participated in an athletic performance during the closing ceremony of student activities. However, she was shocked after the performance photos were posted on the faculty’s official page by a barrage of abusive comments targeting her and her peers.

The comments included mocking and demeaning phrases, such as "Faculty of Belly Dancing," "Shake it with passion to get the highest grade," and "Where are the guardians of these girls?" alongside other remarks that defamed the students' morals and compromised their dignity.

She explains that this experience left a profound psychological scar on her; she felt deeply distressed, which prompted her to absent herself from college for a while. She also stopped following the faculty’s official page to avoid reading further abusive comments and the psychological distress they cause.

From Digital Violence to Family Restrictions

For student "D. H.", the impact of these toxic comments was not confined to the virtual world; it directly encroached upon her personal life.

She recalls that from the very beginning, her family opposed her enrollment in the Faculty of Sports Science. However, she insisted on pursuing this specialization after passing the admission tests and eventually managed to convince them. Throughout her college years, she was careful to respect her family's conservative boundaries.

Nevertheless, when photos of a student training session were published on the faculty's official page, her family's fears resurfaced. She and her classmates were subjected to comments filled with insults, defamation, and character assassination, with some even calling for the closure of the faculty altogether.

She says her brother saw the photos and comments, assaulted her, and attempted to force her to drop out of her studies. Following the intervention of other family members, he agreed to let her continue her education, but on the condition that she leave the university dorms. Consequently, she is now forced to commute long distances daily, enduring immense hardship and exhaustion.

She believes these restrictions were a direct consequence of digital violence, which transcended the boundaries of the internet to compromise her life and her right to education.

When Cyber-Harassment Threatens Career Opportunities

The repercussions of digital violence do not stop at university life; they extend to graduates' futures and employment prospects. Amira Mohamed (a pseudonym), a senior student at the Faculty of Physical Education, says she created an Instagram page to offer online fitness training services for women, but was met with relentless cyber-harassment from the outset.

She explains that most of the page's followers were male, despite the content being explicitly tailored for women. This led to her receiving messages that began as attempts to get acquainted, before escalating into inappropriate comments targeting her appearance, clothing, and the way she presented herself in videos.

She adds that she tried modifying her content presentation and wearing looser clothing, but that failed to stop the harassing comments and sexual innuendos.

The abuse extended to the comments section of her educational videos, where she was ridiculed for her athletic performance and the weights she used during training, in clear attempts to undermine her professional expertise. Furthermore, she received messages containing indecent proposals in exchange for money—which she viewed as a blatant form of cyber-exploitation and harassment.

She emphasizes that these practices took a heavy toll on her mental health, making her hesitate before posting any new content. She even considered shutting down the page entirely, despite having established it for work purposes and to provide health and fitness awareness for women. She notes that the situation improved relatively after she adopted a strict policy of ignoring abusive messages and deleting inappropriate comments, which helped mitigate the volume of harassment compared to when she first started.

Psychological, Social, and Academic Repercussions

The ability of female students to cope with digital violence varies. While some managed to persevere with their studies and work despite the pressure, others were forced to withdraw from certain activities or face familial and social restrictions that restricted their freedom and choices.

Dr. Nousa Mohamed, Director of the Public Relations and Media Department at the Faculty of Sports Science at Assiut University, stressed that the college is keen on providing a safe educational environment and takes firm measures to protect students from any digital violations. She clarified that the photos published on the official page are group photos aimed solely at documenting various activities.

She added that if any offensive comment by a student is detected, it is documented and referred to the legal affairs department for necessary disciplinary action. If the perpetrator is from outside the university, an official complaint is filed with the Cybercrime Investigation Bureau to take appropriate legal action.

She also pointed out the presence of surveillance cameras across all campus facilities as part of measures to enhance security and safety within the university grounds.

Gender-Based Digital Violence

On her part, Hikmat Ibrahim Abdel Karim, a member of the Future Foresight Committee at the Faculty of Sports Science at Assiut University, explained that gender-based digital violence is one of the most prominent challenges facing young women. It encompasses various forms of abuse, threats, defamation, blackmail, and privacy violations via digital mediums.

She added that this type of violence leaves psychological scars that may include anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, and can escalate in some cases to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It also impairs academic achievement through poor concentration and declining performance, and may ultimately drive students to drop out.

She noted that its social impacts manifest in isolation and the fear of social stigma, which restricts women's participation in digital spaces and limits their ability to benefit from learning and development opportunities.

She attributed the prevalence of this phenomenon to several factors, including the desire for control or malice, weak digital literacy, the imitation of rampant behaviors on social media platforms, and a sense of impunity resulting from the use of anonymous accounts.

She explained that the college offers what she described as "Psychological First Aid" to students. This includes providing psychological support, encouraging victims to speak with trusted individuals, and temporarily stepping away from sources of stress, while emphasizing the importance of not blaming oneself, refraining from engaging with bullies, and seeking support from competent bodies within the college.

Legal Procedures

From a legal standpoint, attorney Shaimaa Hassan Al-Hajouli, a member of the Women’s Committee at the General Syndicate, asserted that countering digital violence crimes begins with documenting evidence. This is achieved by keeping screenshots of conversations, comments, or offensive posts, which serve as essential evidence when filing a report.

She explained that the victim then submits a complaint to the Information Technology Crime Control Department (Cybercrime Unit), obtains an incident log number on the day the report is filed, and follows up on the technical examination procedures before the case is referred to the Public Prosecution.

She added that the lengthy legal procedures represent one of the most significant challenges, as the victim is often subjected to severe abuse or character assassination long before the investigation yields results.

She stressed the vital importance of familial and psychological support for young women, especially in environments where the nature of study or appearance may be associated with a social stigma that compounds the pressure exerted on the victim.

Furthermore, she pointed out that many crimes are committed via fake accounts and that some perpetrators belong to younger age groups, which complicates the task of identifying them.

She concluded by noting that in certain cybercrime cases, the law punishes offenders with imprisonment for up to one year and fines starting from 50,000 Egyptian pounds. However, the enforcement of such penalties remains contingent upon the ability to uncover the defendant's identity and access their digital data.