Abstract

Social networks are a fundamental piece of the current communication, allowing the participation of people in the construction of news through the expression of their opinions. This study explores the presence of rape myths in social networks in the case of the rape and suicide complaint of Antonia Barra Parra, a 21-year-old Chilean woman. Thematic analysis in the framework of social phenomenology was used to analyze comments posted in four news videos, produced by Chilean open television channels and available on the YouTube platform. Four general themes were identified: topics related to her, related to the rape, topics related to stereotypes, and related to suicide, the first three referring to rape myths, and the fourth to the victim's suicide. This study evidence that rape myths described in the literature are present in the discourses of the social networks, showing high levels of misogynist and depreciation of women. In addition, particular rape myths emerge, which are related to stereotypes associated with hegemonic beauty and the social status of the victim and the aggressor. The contents related to suicide show two themes: comments that reinforce rape myths and comments that interpret suicide as an act that unveils sexual aggression. These results suggest that social networks are useful to study how individuals reproduce rape culture in the analysis of sexual violence cases. © Copyright 2022 by Psykhe