Domestic violence and hashtag activism: The Croatian case of #SpasiMe

• Autor(a) principal: Krsul, Hana
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/26751
• topic: Violência doméstica -- Domestic violence; Social movements; Hashtag activism; #SpasiMe; Croatia; Movimentos sociais; Ativismo de hashtag; Croácia

Domestic violence is one of the long-standing social grievances. The victims of domestic violence needed to be heard and they found their voice in the feminist social movements. The emergence of social media facilitated reaching the public and motivating them to participate in social movements in order to bring about change. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the impact hashtag activism has on society. This thesis addresses the topic of domestic violence and focuses on an example of hashtag activism in Croatia. The research was carried out from three different perspectives on the #SpasiMe initiative, whose name means save me in Croatian. A semi-structured interview with one of the founders of the #SpasiMe initiative was conducted. A media coverage analysis was performed, analysing how #SpasiMe is framed in a Croatian newspaper. The framing of the initiative in the media was compared to the frames #SpasiMe uses on its Facebook page. A document analysis was carried out on the legislative changes concerning domestic violence. The main results of this study demonstrate the social impact of the #SpasiMe initiative in the form of raising awareness of domestic violence with a more extensive media coverage of the issue. They also suggest the initiative’s participation in initiating changes in the Croatian laws on domestic violence. The case of #SpasiMe illustrates that hashtag activism can contribute to the protection of victims of domestic violence and foster changes in society.