Online abuse of women:an interdisciplinary scoping review of the literature

This paper outlines the interdisciplinary scoping review undertaken into the online abuse of women. The review assesses literature published between 2000 and 2020, using a scoping review methodology, to discover how online abuse is defined, and recommendations proposed to ameliorate it. Using five databases and a selection of keywords generated 61 studies meeting the criteria. The majority defined online abuse as a structural issue (52/61). This paper determines that contemporary literature describes online abuse as a manifestation of gender-based violence, also evidencing the role of misogyny. The paper concludes that tackling online abuse requires action at three levels—the personal, the organisational, and the societal. Furthermore, utilising the scoping review method to assess the literature identifies innovative multi- disciplinary solutions to a complex issue.