Perpetrating Cyber Intimate Partner Violence: The Role of Gender and Culture in an Israeli Sample

Cyber intimate partner violence (CIPV) is a multidimensional phenomenon which encompasses online forms of psychological aggression, sexual aggression, and stalking-like behaviors. The study’s aims were to examine CIPV rates and to determine whether there were differences according to gender and culture. The study was conducted among a representative sample of 894 young-adult Jewish and Arab men and women in Israel. Results showed that about 20% of the sample perpetrated some type of CIPV, a lower rate than that which has been found among this sample’s international counterparts. In addition, cyberstalking was the type used most prevalently, with men using a greater number of CIPV behaviors than did women. Furthermore, Arab men used a greater number of CIPV behaviors than did Arab women, Jewish men, or Jewish women. Jewish women and Arab men used the highest number of aggressive behaviors in the context of cyberstalking. Our analysis indicates that Arab men would be more likely than the other subgroups in this study to perpetrate CIPV behaviors. As such, it is essential that we focus on groups most likely to perpetrate these behaviors, in accordance with culture and gender, and on raising awareness of CIPV in general and cyberstalking via educational/preventive programs.