One in three women has been subjected to some form of physical or sexual violence at least once in their lives, according to the UN. It is this shameful global malady that the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed every November 25 since 2000, seeks to highlight and address.
This year’s theme drives home a timely message: ‘Digital violence is real violence’. “Violence against women on online platforms is, today, a serious and rapidly growing threat,” the UN warns.
“Online and digital spaces should empower women and girls. Yet every day, for millions of women and girls, the digital world has become a minefield of harassment, abuse, and control.”
And now, violence in digital spaces is entering an alarming phase with the advent of AI. Calling the trend a “global human rights emergency”, the UN notes: “It is a form of violence on the rise due to weak technological regulation, a lack of legal recognition of this type of aggression in some countries, the impunity of digital platforms, new and fast-evolving forms of abuse using AI, movements opposing gender equality, the anonymity of perpetrators, and the limited support for digital victims.”
Kerala is not immune to this pandemic. “Digital space is an extension of our physical world,” says illustrator Archana Ravi, who has been facing cyber-attacks for a long while.
Attacks, she adds, are of several kinds: there are comments, direct messages, photos being misused and threats of violence. “Each comes with a different set of baggage. Even a comment under somebody else’s post invites attacks,” she says.
“The perpetrators swarm like hornets, with disparaging and threatening comments. They are supported by their ilk, making you feel like your voice is weak. Over time, you feel a sense of powerlessness.”
Archana recalls an incident when she commented under a post supporting transwomen. “My comment drew vitriol from many. I call them incels, as that’s how they behave,” she says.
“Later, I got an invitation to an Instagram group. Without joining, I could see the contents of the group, which included many of my photos with horrible tags. They had created fake chats with my photos with vulgar comments and cuss words.”
She filed an online complaint, but never received a follow-up call or message. “I decided not to pursue it legally. Instead, I responded to the trolls sarcastically, often in their own language,” she says.
Archana observes that these attacks are faced by women and cutting across social strata — from school students to public representatives. “They get harassed one way or the other. It’s common to see even women journalists and news anchors getting online threats and violent comments on official YouTube channels,” she shrugs.
Researcher Aabha Muraleedharan agrees. “The first nasty attack I faced was via a WhatsApp photo of a male private part. It was set as ‘view once’. Attacks have only gone up in recent times,” she says.
“This happens in liberal spaces too. Some so-called liberals who scan your account and ‘rate’ it among themselves. As per the photos you post, they rate your ‘availability’.”
Aabha adds that she has stopped posting photographs on the internet. “And if I need to appear online for official purposes, I ensure that I am dressed in a salwar-kameez with dupatta,” she adds.
“I would advise women, and especially girls, to reduce digital footprint — something often impossible for those pursuing art, films, photography and similar fields. In this AI era, I don’t know how even a state can actually tackle the issue. So we need to be cautious. It’s not a sign of weakness, but guarding one’s privacy.”
Divya (name changed), a working-class woman from a Scheduled Tribe community, moved to Kochi hoping for a better job. Instead, her life changed when a video of hers was shared online without her consent. Though the video was deleted, the clip kept resurfacing. “It never really goes away,” she says.
Her experience was highlighted in a recent study titled ‘Experiencing Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence in India: Survivor Narratives and Legal Responses’ by Equality Now and Breakthrough Trust.
Featuring accounts from cities including Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, the study shows how trolling, morphing, fake profiles, threats, and leaked content have become common tools of harassment that disproportionately target women, girls, and LGBTQ+ individuals.
A woman journalist, who wishes to remain anonymous, says she is yet to get over the trauma of her morphed photos being posted on adult sites. “The attackers shared my phone number as well. I soon started getting a barrage of calls,” she recalls.
“People may think strong, modern women can’t be hurt. But, to be honest, I was breaking inside.”
‘New SOP’
Lawyer Jiyas Jamal, founder of Cyber Suraksha Foundation, says cybercrimes across domains have been rising steadily, especially in the absence of adequate mechanisms or laws.
“I have come across many women whose photos have been used for financial fraud among pornography networks,” he says. “From Threads to Telegram, some networks sell photos of women and children for as low as Rs 500. There are women whose husbands provided their intimate photos to some ‘fantasy’ groups online, which were then widely spread on the internet.”
Legal action remains feeble. “The police are also often helpless. Unless these platforms respond in a timely manner and provide the data, they cannot investigate properly. Many women are reluctant as they believe it is not going to yield any quick, favourable result,” says Jiyas.
“Even if photos or videos are removed, they often reappear elsewhere. Women are aware of this, and they feel helpless.”
One ray of hope is a new national standard operating procedure (SOP) to curb the dissemination of non-consensual intimate imagery. Instead of going directly to the police, affected women can approach one-stop centres (OSCs) set up by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development or use the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
Under the SOP, the OSC must assist victims with the NCRP, offer legal and psychological counselling, help them file complaints with the local police, and connect them with legal aid through the district legal services authority or empanelled lawyers.
“It is a revolutionary approach,” says Jiyas. “Digital platforms will be liable if the damaging content is not removed in a timely manner. As per the SOP, the platforms can be asked to remove all similar content, and ensure they are not reuploaded. If implemented, it will help scores of women across the country.”
16 Days of Activism
#NoExcuse for online abuse. UN launches ‘UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls’ campaign from November 25 to December 10
What is digital abuse?
Image-based abuse / non-consensual sharing of intimate images (often called revenge porn or leaked nudes)
Cyberbullying, trolling and online threats
Online harassment
AI-generated deepfakes including sexually explicit images, deepfake pornography, and digitally manipulated images, videos or audio
Hate speech and disinformation on social media platforms
Doxxing – publishing private information
Online stalking
Online grooming and sexual exploitation
Catfishing and impersonation
Misogynistic networks
With inputs from
Rajalakshmi P