SEMINAR ON CRIMINAL LAW AND ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL

JUSTICE SYSTEM

Sub Theme: Cyber Crimes against women and prevention

Participants: Ashish Kumar Singh & Shivam Mishra

Designation: 3rd Year B.A. LLB (Hons.), Faculty of Law

Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005.

Address: Room No.52, Chankya Hostel, Banaras Hindu University

Varanasi-221005.

Email Id: ashishsinghsingh1997@gmail.com

&

shivammishra1725@gmail.com

Contact No.: +91 8948553578, +91 7505284724

 ABSTRACT

If religion was the opium of the masses in the past, social media is the new opium as well as
the tsunami of Indians today. Violation of human rights of women is not a new phenomenon.
It is always taking it shapes time to time in Indian history. Few areas of criminal justice are
seeing such increases in recognition as those of crimes involving computers and technology.
The right to internet usage has recognised as a human right by UNHRC and thanks to the
information technology which brought a great revolution in the communication space for
making world a ‘Global Village’ and giving equal realization of rights to women. Invention
of World Wide Web, mobile phones and tabs etc. changed women’s standard of living, but
what are its ramifications in a society steeped in patriarchy, where violence, harassment and
discrimination against women in the cyber world mirror that in the real world? Cybercrimes
increase exponentially, and current laws do not provide adequate redress. Mostly, cyber-
crimes take place against women who can be easily exploited. Due to lack of evidences and
fear of defamation, identifying criminal is very hard. Cyber violence has exposed women to
cyber defamation, sexual harassment and abuse, pornography, email-misrepresentation etc.
The paper presumes the cyber violence against women, how it is impacting their social life in
the context of India. The paper identifies common forms of cyber-crimes against women,
such as cyber stalking, cyber pornography, circulating images, video clips of women engaged
in intimate acts, morphing, sending obscene, defamatory, annoying messages, online trolling,
bullying, blackmailing, threat or intimidation, and email spoofing and impersonation. The
paper explores the ground realities- the existence and effectiveness of Indian laws in
protecting women and enabling a safe and congenial environment for them when they access
the internet. It discusses contents of each category of offences, analyses the applicable legal
provisions and highlights reported cases. It highlights the reasons and forms of cyber-crime
and explores some suggestions how to curb cyber-crime against women.

KEYWORDS: Cyber violence, Women, Information Technology, Cyber Space.