Technology-facilitated sexual violence can take many forms, such as morphed images, sexual blackmailing and bullying, digital flashing, rape threats, and explicit comments and messages. , Photo Credit: The Hindu
When Anoushka, a 19-year-old college student, found her “morphed” nude photos online, she committed suicide. An ex-boyfriend pasted her face onto the naked bodies of other women, creating an image of herself as Anoushka. The pictures, which were sent to her college’s WhatsApp group and posted online, were received by her parents the same day. Anushka’s story is just one of countless examples of technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV), a growing problem affecting college students across India.
My research on TFSV revealed that online abuse disproportionately affected young women. I surveyed 400 students from 111 Indian higher education institutions and found that 60% of females experienced some form of TFSV, compared to only 8% of males.
Read this also | Online criminals are upping their game to spread child abuse material
TFSV can take many forms, such as morphed nude images, sexual blackmailing and bullying, digital flashing, rape threats, and explicit comments and messages. It pervades every social media and messaging platform, but Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are particularly guilty.
Abuse is tied to a person’s name and online profile, and can remain on the Internet forever. Many survivors experience depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. Online abuse also has tangible consequences such as loss of educational or career prospects, social isolation, and violence and ostracism by one’s own family. Meanwhile, abusers hide behind anonymity.
Where can survivors turn for help? India’s IT Act of 2000 criminalises some forms of TFSV, but ambiguities in the law may prevent survivors from reporting. Although the legislation has spurred some security reforms, technology giants like Meta are not motivated to make more than a bare minimum of changes to their security features. India has the largest number of Facebook users in the world, yet Meta has not adapted its platform to the Indian context.
For example, Meta’s safety moderation algorithms are trained mostly in American English, so it is less likely to detect abusive content in Indian languages. With the upcoming Digital India Act, the government has an opportunity to strengthen its regulations for technology platforms and force social media companies to take accountability.
critical intervention point
Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) are another important intervention point for online harassment of students. Guidelines for prevention and redress are comprehensive, yet legally mandated mechanisms often go unused, if they exist. IHEs should have Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) to investigate incidents of sexual harassment, but many institutions struggle to form, train and manage these committees. Even if the ICC finds a student guilty of sexual harassment, there is no guarantee that higher authorities will hold them accountable.
Unsurprisingly, students reported low awareness and use of ICC in their educational institutions. Of the students surveyed, 44% were unsure whether they could report online sexual harassment to their college. Not a single survivor chose to formally report the incident.
Students were very clear about how to address TFSV in their institutions. They proposed that their schools provide anonymous helplines and reporting options, mental health services from trained counselors, and grassroots solutions such as hosting regular workshops, safety training, facilitated discussions, and designating student organizations to lead education and response efforts. Legal regulations already mandate that IHE conduct gender sensitization programs and empower students to engage with their community. The missing part is the implementation of these measures while allocating funds and prioritizing these solutions is also imperative.
Social Impact
TFSV demands our immediate attention as it exacerbates existing social inequalities. In my research, I found that only 22% of women surveyed feel safe online, compared to 73% of men. Access to the Internet, which is fast becoming a basic human need, is hindered by the TFSV – a replica of a patriarchal system that disempowers women. Widespread violence on the Internet has serious implications for the role of women in society. The ability to have safe access to the Internet is critical to women’s agency, mobility, and economic development.
Addressing the problem of TFSV means focusing on the needs of the survivors who are most affected. Survivors said that apart from gender, factors such as caste, religion, sexual orientation, class and region increased their vulnerability online. Further research on how TFSV affects other marginalized identities is critical to resolving this issue.
What can we do to bring about change? In addition to advocating for proposed solutions, another necessary step is to openly discuss TFSV without shaming or blaming survivors – from harassment to rape, as part of an ongoing movement to improve the level of sexual violence in India. Survivors overwhelmingly said that stigmatizing and trivializing their experiences was a significant part of the problem. As our world is becoming increasingly digital, the issue of TFSV is becoming more urgent by the day. It is important to raise widespread awareness of TFSV and implement solutions while the problem is still under our control.
If you are affected by TFSV and need help, call the TechSakhi helpline (080 4568 5001), email help@SocialMediaMatters.in, or visit www.bloom.chayn.co.
Anjali Rangaswamy is a Fulbright Scholar and cyberbullying expert