Not without my mobile phone: alcohol binge drinking, gender violence and technology in the Spanish culture of intoxication

Abstract

The practice of binge drinking has in recent decades consolidated what is known as the ‘culture of intoxication’ among the young people of Spain. This has coincided with the increase in the use of mobile-phone technology and of social networks within the night-time economy. Our main aim is to explore these new, potentially risky uses and violent behaviours, through an analysis of the discourses of the young people involved. This is a qualitative study with in-depth interviews (n = 24) of young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two, resident in two cities in the south of Spain: Granada and Seville. Findings: our results show that gender violence is present in the contexts where alcohol is consumed intensively and is related to the use of the mobile phone in interpersonal or couple relationships. This violence is practiced mainly against the women, who suffer sexual harassment and violation of their public image through information and communication technologies. Our data show that prevention should consider the new vulnerabilities that are generated out of the problematic association between technology and alcohol, using innovative strategies that are adapted to the new patterns of youth behaviour.