Ending Online Violence Against Women in India: Calling for an Inclusive, Comprehensive, and Gender-Sensitive Law and Policy Framework
The revolution in information and communication technology has provided a digital space that is easy to access, cost-effective, and democratic; however, over the decades, cyberspace has also witnessed the increasing menace of cybercrime. On the one hand, when technology is enhancing life, enabling agency, and facilitating capabilities, at the same time, the inequalities, discrimination, hierarchies, misogyny, sexism, and patriarchy in the physical world are also being replicated, transferred, reshaped, and reconstructed in the virtual world. The available data and everyday experiences show that the digital world is alienating and doubly discriminating against women in major ways. Firstly, through the prevalence of the digital divide, where those on the margins, including women, are denied access to the technology; and secondly, violence against women in the digital world is making a devastating impact in terms of their physical, emotional, mental, and social health. Despite thes