Victimization Of Women In Cyberspace And The Need For Legal Framework

Vineetha. N writes

 In this era of the 21^st century by the rapid growth of the Internet, usage of social media had become a very important tool to acquire knowledge, get information regarding jobs, for entertainment and stay updated. Cyber attackers are using this as an advantage to commit crimes. Many men and women irrespective of gender are becoming victims of these attackers.

The 2006 Working to Halt Online Abuse (WHOA) Statistics shows that 70 % of women are being victimized through virtual media. A survey lead by National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) in 2019 shows 63.5% of cybercrimes registered where for the motive of fraud 26,891cases followed by sexual exploitation with 2,266 cases in which women are more in percentile.   

 In reality, it is very much evident that the graph of sexual harassment on women has been on a constant rise. Now that harassment had evolved into virtual form. Be it may be social media abuse to virtual rape, cybercriminals are using the data bank to commit offences. Let us know the types of these offences and punishments.

CYBER STALKING 

     It is a crime in which the stalker harasses a victim through messages using the internet.

     EXAMPLE: Virtual Communication through instant messaging, threatening private messages, abusing etc.,

     PUNISHMENTS: Under Section 354D of the Indian Penal Code Stalking is punishable with imprisonment up to 3 years and a fine. It is a Cognizable and bailable Offence.

     Under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act when a stalker sends or posts any obscene content to the victim via electronic media then they shall be imprisoned for a term of 5 years of jail and fine up to 1 lakh.

     Under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code victim can file Defamation which will lead to an Imprisonment of 2 years, fine or both.

CYBER VOYEURISM

     It is deriving pleasure from regarding others engaged in sexual or scandalous acts and targeting individuals through privacy breaches of a person’s private or intimate space.

     PUNISHMENT:  Under the Information Act, Section 66E – Voyeurism is a crime irrespective of gender such acts can be punished with imprisonment which may extend up to 3 years and the person may be liable to pay a fine of up to 2 lakh ( This Provision came into effect through amendment of 2001 by Ritu Kohila case)

     Under Section 354C of the Indian Penal Code, the punishment under this section for the offence of voyeurism can range from 3 to 7 years and fine.

CYBER MORPHING

     Cybercriminals by morphing the pictures of women promote online sex chart and pornographic content, cyber morphing includes editing victims photos and publishing them on websites.

     PUNISHMENT: Under Information Technology Act, Section 67 – Publishing and Transmitting obscene material in electronic form – Imprisonment of three years and fine up to 5 lakh rupees. In case of repetition of crime, imprisonment may extend to 5 years and a fine up to 10 lakh.

Under Indian Penal Code, Section 292 – Publicly exhibits distributes etc of Obscene material. Imprisonment up to 2 years and a fine up to 2 thousand rupees, Section 509 – Word Gesture or act to insult the modesty of women, Section 500 – Defamation.

CYBER PORNOGRAPHY

Cyber Pornography includes Publishing, Distributing or designing pornography by using electronic media. Viewing cyber pornography is legal in India. But Publication, Storing, Transmitting is Illegal.

PUNISHMENT: Under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code  – The selling and distribution of pornographic material are illegal in India. Imprisonment up to 2 years and fine up to 2 thousand rupees.

 Under IT Act, Section 67 – The distribution sale, or circulation of obscene materials through electronic medium. Imprisonment up to 3 years and fine up to 5 lakh.

     There is one case in which viewing Cyber Pornography is punishable with imprisonment of up to 5 years and a fine of up to 10 lakhs. Where the content contains children engaging with one another or with adults in sexually explicit acts.

     Child Pornography is illegal and strictly prohibited across the country under section 67B of the IT Act, 2000.

INITIATIVES BY GOVERNMENT

     In 2019 Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) granted 93.12 crores to set up Cyber Forensic Training Investigation Labs (CFTIL)  under Cyber Crime Protection Against Women and Children (CCPAWC) to train judicial officers and other technicians to resolve the crimes.

COMPLAINT FILING :

     Cyber Cells had been set up in many states to tackle cybercrimes. A victim can approach these cells and file a complaint

     A victim can register the complaint online via the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal  (cybercrime.gov.in). Some states also have their websites to lodge the Commission of Woman (Now.nic.in) and also in respective state commission of women portals. Victims can make a call to helpline numbers launched by the government – 155260.

JUDICIAL RESPONSE ON CYBER CRIMES:

 RITU KOHLI’S CASE: This was India’s first case of cyberstalking, where the victim complained to police against a person, who was using her identity, i.e name and address to chat over the Internet website and using obscene language. Consequently, Mrs Kohli received almost 40 calls in 3 days.  A case was registered on the accused under section 509 of  IPC but as this section covers only act intended to insult the modesty of women and nowhere covers the act done on the internet, the government amended section 66A of Information Technology Act, 2000 and imposed imprisonment.

STATE OF TAMILNADU V. SUHAS KATTI: This is the landmark case which is considered to be the 1^st case where the accused was convicted under s. 67 of I.T Act, 2000 in India. In this case, the accused was a known family member of the victim and was interested in marrying her. On her reluctance, the accused started harassing her through the internet and posted an obscene, defamatory and annoying message about her.

In the recent Judgment (20^th April 2021) of Delhi High Court, HON’BLE JUSTICE ANUP JAYARAM BHAMBHANI  observed ‘Internet never sleeps and the Internet never forgets’ and held that photographs taken from Facebook and Instagram account uploaded on the pornographic website without the consent of such person amounts to an offence under sec. 67 of the IT Act and that such an act, even if the photographs are not in itself obscene, without the consent of the party would amount to a breach of a person’s privacy.

 APPROACH OF OTHER COUNTRIES :

     In the state of United Kingdom cyber crimes against women are punished under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Malicious Communications Act 1988, Communication Act 2003, Protection of  Freedom Act 2012, Criminal Justice act 1988, Communication Decency Act, Criminal Justice and  Immigration Act 2008.

     In the United States of America, cyber crimes are punished under Interstate Communications Act,  Interstate Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act. By the introduction of “Violence against Women and the Department of Justice Reauthorization Act, 2005” cyberstalking were penalized and women were considered as the vulnerable victim. Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act, 2003 (PROTECT) makes it a crime to offer or solicit sexually explicit images of children and it also formed United States Internet Crime Complaints Center to tackle cybercrimes.

     For the speedy justice in cyber crimes European Union has taken the certain initiative in the form of the European Convention on Cybercrimes, 2001 supported by many other international organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Copy Right Treaty, 1996, to which many countries like United States of America, European Union and Canada are signatory.

     Cyber pornography is not only national but also an international legal challenge that needs intensive study and worldwide awareness  

ISSUES TO RESOLVE :

In India, there is a need for more legislative actions to reduce cyber victimization.

To handle such sensitive issues social media developers should be vigilant and take more steps to protect their user’s privacy and should improve the photo identification system so that it will be easy to find out where their user’s data had been published. Awareness should be there in society regarding punishments for these offences and victims should know their remedy.

The recent sensational case of an Instagram group named BOYS LOCKER ROOM which was created by teenage boys was exposed after a girl shared screenshots of their chats on social media. The chats revealed school boys shared photos of underage girls, objectifying them and planning gang rapes. This is definitely an issue that needs to be concerned. Easy access to content on the internet is one of the factors, so parents should have an eye on their children usage of virtual media.

CONCLUSION :

All these cybercrimes will not only create disturbances in society but also lead to a lot of mental distress to women which can affect their life. So let us build a society wherein women gets support even if she faces these types of issues.

As quoted by the author Elizabeth Stanton “ The best Protection any women can have is Courage ”. So Women should pluck up the courage to file a complaint and to prove the wrongdoer guilty.

(Author is a 3rd year Law student from University college of Law, Osmania University.)