Crimes virtuais contra mulheres em jogos online: uma abordagem criminológica sobre a violência de gênero

Abstract

While online games have consolidated themselves as significant spaces for social interaction, they have also revealed the presence of discriminatory practices and violent behaviors that primarily affect women, reflecting the expansion of gender-based violence into the virtual environment and resulting in the occurrence of cybercrimes. In this context, Criminology plays an essential role by enabling the scientific understanding of crime, the offender, the victim, social control, and other elements that permeate these dynamics. Accordingly, this study questioned to what extent, in Brazil, virtual crimes committed against women within online games constitute expressions of gender-based violence in light of an interlocution between the Chicago School and feminist criminologies. The general objective was to analyze virtual crimes committed against women in online gaming environments through a dialogue between feminist criminologies and the Chicago School, focusing on manifestations of gender-based violence within the Brazilian context. To this end, the research sought to understand the historical and social context of symbolic and structural violence perpetrated against women in Brazil, outline the main theoretical contributions of the Chicago School and feminist criminologies, and relate these contributions to the misogynistic virtual crimes practiced in online gaming environments. Methodologically, the study adopted the deductive method, with an exploratory and descriptive nature, and employed bibliographic research techniques. The analysis proposed by the Chicago School found that factors such as disorganized growth, low social cohesion, and limited capacity for controlling deviant behaviors create favorable conditions for the occurrence of virtual crimes in online games, such as threats and cyberbullying. Furthermore, from the perspective of feminist criminologies, it was concluded that these practices reflect the persistence of a patriarchal culture that sustains gender inequality, transforming the digital world into an extension of the structures of domination present in the real world.