Information technology exists in two forms since it creates human advancement and business opportunities but also fuels the humiliation and oppression of women specifically. The virtual domain known as Cyberworld operates as a place where all people hide their actual personal information. Regular people primarily women become victims in numerous known and unknown criminal activities. Hackers together with crackers and stalkers use their methods to intrude user accounts which enables them to break into computer systems and extract important user information. The system identifies users as females so potential offences include mail harassment, cyberstalking, cyber sex, cyber defamatory statements and photo modification, non-consensual porn and child pornography along with cyberbullying, cyber grooming and electronic content posting of obscene materials. Etc.”
Why Women Are More Frequently Targeted?
One of the key reasons women are more frequently targeted by cyber criminals is the historical and cultural background of gender-based violence. Society views women as weak targets so online harassment and abuse happens disproportionately against them. Attackers abuse the anonymity of the internet to generate a sense of power which makes them less responsible yet promotes aggressive conduct.
Online criminals exploit women through various cybercrime methods which include:
- The act of making harassing and threatening digital communications through social media and forums against women constitutes Cyber Harassment. Internet use has spread so widely that it creates more challenges for women who wish to avoid unwanted attention.
- Victims of identity theft are mostly women since their personal information frequently becomes stolen and abused by criminals. Futile people use their stolen information to commit financial deception while creating artificial social media profiles for deception impersonation.
- The vulnerability of young women attracts cybercriminals who use deception to lead them into hazardous situations. Social media has become a major breeding ground for such coercion because cyber predators utilize manipulative tactics for their harmful intentions.
- Image-Based Abuse which people commonly call “revenge porn” occurs when personal photographs are distributed without consent thus creating traumatic psychological consequences for victims.
We should avoid viewing cyber violence as an isolated issue because it connects with various other forms of violence. Women who experienced sexual harassment by their intimate partners offline often suffer online harassment from the same person. People who cyberstalk their victims regularly send unwanted e-mails and text messages in such incidents. Online harassment involves subjecting another person to unwanted sexually explicit messages as well as threatening violence and hateful statements through the internet. Non-consensual pornography represents an extremely distressing form of internet attack that ranks among the most cruel digital offences.
Sharing sexually explicit pictures or videos with others online constitutes cyber assault when consent from the person featured in them has been denied. Research indicates that women form the majority of victims who fall prey to nonconsensual pornography (90%).
Legal Framework and Punishments
The worldwide understanding of severe cybercrime against women continues to grow which leads countries to create specific laws against such crimes. Some common legal replies are:
- Numerous nations have written specific legislation to manage digital harassment and cyberbullying through their anti-cyberbullying laws. Under these current legal provisions, women can pursue justice through legal means against their offenders.
- The implementation of privacy protection laws creates extra barriers for online personal data protection which makes personal information difficult to misuse by criminals.
- The legal world now concentrates on enforcing severe penalties against cybercriminals because strict sanctions aim to stop additional offences from occurring. Victims in numerous regions possess the capability to submit crime reports to dedicated cybercrime law enforcement groups for organized tracking of corresponding offences.
Remedies for Women Affected by Cyber Crime
The necessity of legal remedies remains vital for women, yet they need digital awareness and protective abilities as part of their defence strategy in modern technology. Cited below are specific actions women need to take to protect themselves from cybercrime.
- Social media users should adjust their privacy options to control which content their profiles make accessible to others.
- Social network users must avoid disclosing personal details such as location and banking data because these data points can enable cybercriminals to harm them.
- Users can leverage social media platforms to report offences through built-in tools for reporting abusive conduct. At the same time, they should block offenders from their accounts. Internet users must block those who establish dangerous online conditions to prevent further hostile behaviour.
- Protect devices and online sessions through the proper application of security tools which include VPNs and antivirus software. Regular password updates combined with two-factor authentication provide additional security protection to users.
- Professional counselling and joining neighbourhood support groups provide women with methods to manage the psychological impact of cybercrimes.
The global prevalence of criminal activities aimed at women demands immediate proper attention. The developing digital world requires new methods and frameworks to combat these modelled offences against women. Internet safety for women improves when they understand threats better and implement both legal protection measures and personal proactive security. The digital crime fight requires women to receive empowerment benefits from knowledge combined with resources to move beyond their status as vulnerable targets to become entitled recipients of cyber protection and justice.
Author: Mahima Pandey, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.