MAKING SENSE OF DIGITAL VULNERABILITY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF WOMEN'S LIVED EXPERIENCES IN NYENGSERET URBAN VILLAGE
Published:
2026-08-11Downloads
Abstract
The rapid development of digital technology has increased women's exposure to various forms of digital vulnerability, including online harassment, identity fraud, personal data misuse, online loan intimidation, and technology-facilitated sexual exploitation. While previous studies have primarily examined digital vulnerability from technological or cybersecurity perspectives, limited attention has been given to how women themselves interpret these experiences in their everyday lives. This study aims to explore how women in Nyengseret Urban Village, Bandung City, make meaning of digital vulnerability through their lived experiences. Employing a qualitative phenomenological approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with five female community leaders representing PKK, Working Group (Pokja), Posyandu, RT, and RW. The findings were analyzed using Sandra Harding's Feminist Standpoint Theory, encompassing situated knowledge, the privilege of the oppressed, experience as evidence, critique and reflexivity, and emancipatory goals. The findings reveal that digital vulnerability is not merely understood as a technological threat but as an experience that undermines women's sense of safety in everyday life. Women's knowledge of digital risks emerges from their social positions and shared community experiences, enabling them to recognize patterns of online fraud, digital sexual harassment, privacy violations, and financial exploitation. Furthermore, the study finds that women's collective experiences foster critical awareness, mutual support, and community-based strategies to address digital risks. Collaboration between the village government, universities, and law enforcement strengthens this process through digital literacy programs and the creation of safe spaces for sharing experiences without stigma. This study concludes that digital vulnerability is socially constructed through women's lived experiences and that community-based digital literacy serves as an emancipatory process that transforms individual vulnerability into collective resilience.
Keywords:
digital vulnerability women's lived experience phenomenology Feminist Standpoint Theory digital literacy.References
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Copyright (c) 2026 Aiza Nabilla Arifputri, Nofha Rina, Yuliani Rahma Putri, Diah Agung Esfandari, Raissa Azaria Arief, Sarah Derma Ekaputri
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