Investigating cybercrime amongst female students in Saudi Arabia and identifying how social work can respond to the challenges

Abstract

Existing literature has suggested that there is a need for Saudi Arabia’s social work sector to address cybercrime against women as an emerging social issue. Cybercrime has been steadily rising in Saudi Arabia, and studies have shown that young women are more likely to be the victims. There are, however, this study is the first qualitative study that explore the issue of cybercrime in Saudi Arabia from the perspective of both social workers and the people that they support. This study therefore offers a contribution to the existing literature by critically investigating the role social workers in the university context play, in supporting female students with cybercrime. The research used an interpretative qualitative approach, conducting 30 semi- structured interviews with 15 female social worker participants, and 15 female student participants. The results of the study found that cybercrime against young women was very common, yet few of the students had sought out the help of social workers. The research identified that one of the most significant barriers to young female students seeking out the help of social workers in cybercrime related issues, was a fear of shame or familial punishment. The study also explored how the nature of social work in Saudi Arabia is shaped by the culture and origins for the country This has implications for both young women encountering cybercrime and highlights limitations of ethical and effective social work practice as it is experienced in Saudi Arabia at present. The study also sought to explore how these findings could be applied to wider Saudi Arabian society, particularly in relation to the topic of female agency and gender norms in Saudi Arabia. and how this information could be used to improve and solidify the social work profession in Saudi Arabia.