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Exploring the value of feminist theory in understanding digital crimes: Gender and cybercrime types

Lazarus, Suleman ; Button, Mark ; Kapend, Richard (2022) — The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice

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DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12485 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   United Kingdom
Tags:   Cybercrime Perceptions, Feminist Criminology, Gender Differences, Measurement, Online Fraud, Romance Scams, Tripartite Cybercrime Framework
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Synopsis

            
This study investigates whether men and women perceive different forms of digital crime in ways that align with the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework (TCF) and feminist criminology. Building on Lazarus’s distinction between socio-economic cybercrime (online fraud) and psychosocial cybercrime (online harassment, cyberstalking, revenge pornography, cyberbullying), the authors aim to see if gender shapes perceived severity across these categories. The research is framed as an empirical test of the synergy between feminist criminology and the TCF, asking whether gender differences exist in perceptions of cybercrime types and whether those differences are more pronounced for psychosocial versus socio-economic forms. Methodologically, the article reports an online survey of 403-407 UK respondents (predominantly women) who rated the severity of five cybercrime types on a 1–10 scale. Participants were given definitions of online fraud, cyberbullying, revenge porn, cyberstalking, and online harassment, and then asked to assess their seriousness. The main findings indicate that women perceive psychosocial cybercrimes as more severe than men do, with statistically significant differences for cyberstalking, revenge porn, and cyberbullying. By contrast, there is no gender difference in perceived severity of socio-economic cybercrime (online fraud). The authors interpret these results as evidence that psychosocial cybercrimes are more gendered than socio-economic ones and argue that this supports a need to distinguish cybercrime forms rather than generalizing about “cybercrime” or categorizing them as cyber-enabled or people-centered. Limitations noted include a non-probability sample, a binary treatment of gender, and questions about generalizability beyond the study’s UK, largely female sample. The article calls for further research to test these distinctions with broader samples and to deepen understanding of how feminist perspectives can be integrated with the TCF in studying digital crimes.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
The paper identifies no prior empirical examination of whether perceptions differ across the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework categories, or of its synergy with feminist criminology. It also identifies a need for cybercrime research to avoid broad classifications that obscure gendered differences between offense types. For romance scams specifically, the article offers conceptual discussion but no direct empirical measurement of scam experiences, victimization, offender behavior, or prevention.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
An anonymous online cross-sectional survey measured perceived seriousness of five cybercrime types among 407 staff and students recruited through three United Kingdom universities and associated Facebook groups. Respondents rated each offense from 1 to 10 after receiving definitions. Analyses compared men’s and women’s ratings using independent-samples t-tests; a Pearson chi-squared test assessed gender differences in computer skill and proficiency.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The nonprobability, ad hoc sample was recruited from university-linked participants and was not representative, so population inferences and statistical significance require caution. The sample overrepresented women, was relatively small (n=407), measured perceptions rather than respondents’ exposure to cybercrime, and used a binary gender focus that excluded transgender, bigender, and other nonbinary identities. The authors also note that boundaries between Tripartite Cybercrime Framework categories can be blurred.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Test the initial findings in a larger, representative sample; include nonbinary gender identities and examine their lived experiences; measure respondents’ exposure to cybercrime; and further test differences between socio-economic and psychosocial cybercrime types using the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework and feminist criminology.

          

              

    
    

        
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