Friday, June 29, 2012

Need for Cyber Sexual Harassment Laws in India.

This was written a while back, just did not put it up on blog. So the 'recent' incidents may not seem so recent.

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The recent spate of attacks on Meena Kandasamy in the cyber space has indeed raised many questions. The issue of how women who speak their mind on the internet were trolled and subjected to harassment was highlighted to some level along with the degeneration of ethics and an irresponsible attitude. But what has not been talked of is the cyber equivalent of sexual harassment that these women face every day and the measures which ought to be taken to curb such sociopathic moral policing on women. 

Consider the case of Akhila Henry. She posted a sarcastic status about a well known Malayalam actor in her Facebook Timeline. What followed was an onslaught of tirades against her with hordes of men visiting her profile and using derogatory language. When she contacted the police, the response was that such treatment was meted out every day over the internet and nothing could be done about it. Like Akhila, there are hundreds or thousands of women in Indian cyber space who have found new frontiers of self-expression and empowerment, who have to encounter the daunting challenges of cyber bullying, stalking, trolling and cyber sexual harassment. Moreover, such harassment is clear violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution. It is in this context that we need an evaluation of the current cyber laws in place. The only section which even remotely deals with the concerned section is Section 66A of the IT Amendment Act 2008, which concerns with Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc and states that, ‘Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device,- a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will, persistently makes by making use of such computer resource or a communication device, c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.’ 

But on a second reading, it becomes clear that there exists no standard definition for ‘grossly offensive’ or ‘menacing character’. This can be examined through the recent complaint that Sajitha Madathil lodged with the Hi-tech Crime Enquiry Cell of Kerala Police against cyber stalkers who apparently spread vitriol against her on Facebook and elsewhere. Since the concerned terms are fussy in nature, as to what constitutes such vitriol becomes highly subjective and skewed. Those who have criticized her justly and in a civilized yet firm manner might also end up being clubbed with the stalkers. 

On the other hand, the real issue of cyber sexual harassment goes unnoticed in the existing paraphernalia of vague terminology. What Sajitha Madathil might have and Meena Kandasamy to a much greater level did experience is traumatic to varying degrees. No woman wants to be subjected to threats, abuse and innuendos in real life. Why should cyber space be any different? That is precisely why we need the IT Amendment Act to include sexual harassment online too. A number of women bloggers I talked to, stressed the extra amount of time and energy they spent on weeding out trolls on their comments and getting accustomed to differences of opinion being expressed in sexually explicit language. Women bloggers and writers who speak their mind on cyber space cannot survive unless they numb themselves to the constant onslaught of such nastiness. The average Indian chauvinist makes sure that the apparent anonymity of the internet is used to spew verbal hatred and incite misogyny in ways he would never do in real life. 

Indian cyber space is rapidly expanding its dimensions to gender inclusiveness, since more and more women are becoming financially independent enough to own their own PCs and laptops. The recent surge in smart phone use has also contributed to the ease of access to both men and women, making sure their friends, knowledge and cyber activism are in the palm of their hands. The younger generation is one which is being trained to ask questions, speak out and stand firm. The young women have an edge over the older generations in this aspect, since they have an audience for their thoughts which is constantly making them evolve. This evolution is real in every sense and tantamount to empowerment. When one read about or saw Thasni Banu on TV, it might not have occurred to the older generation to get to know her personally. But by one click on our computers, we can include her in the circle of our acquaintances, hence assuring we are being surrounded by likeminded people. This translates into action in real life as well. Solidarity is formed, knowing that you aren’t alone. It is this solidarity and empowerment that trolls, stalkers and sexual harassers try to suppress. They have their own networks, ensuring that even if we complain, report or block a particular person, scores of others, who are waiting for his word will come rolling down, crashing our virtual gates open. It is upsetting for an ordinary person to tolerate such unsavory characters and at times even veterans who are seasoned in the art of ignoring them can become upset over call to rape and sexually explicit descriptions in threats.

There needs to arise a systematic line of measures taken to ensure the continued freedom of speech of women over the internet. One major task is generating internet ethics. Someone who has a personal moral compass rather than the ones infused by socio-cultural precedents will never indulge in such verbal sexual harassment online and setting a sociopathic preliminary to carry out misogynistic activities offline. This can only be done by spreading awareness and enforcing legal aspects, so that in the long run, such a personal moral compass becomes functionally autonomous and ingrained in the person. For that, we need separate cyber sexual harassment laws which are specific and in par with real life sexual harassment laws. Threats of gang rape and genital mutilation are not in the same boat as calling woman sexually derogatory names. Nor is a onetime anonymous blog comment synonymous with continued trolling. There should be a gradation in the specification of the crime and punishment given, with the complexities of our social setting taken into account. For example, Meena Kandasamy was targeted also because she is a Dalit activist, making it a multidimensional issue which needs a multipronged legal solution. Immediate action and necessary follow up by the police will help drive the point home that sexual harassment is not acceptable anywhere, in any form. 

In future, the importance of cyber space will become almost equal to the home, the office and public places, all where we have laws to safeguard women. It is emerging to be the need of the times, so that women can speak their mind, share thoughts and ideas, empower themselves and through that contribute to the progress of the nation. Women should also not be cowed down by these threats and attacks on their freedom and stop expressing themselves. After all, as Audre Lorde rightly said, “When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.” So let us keep speaking.

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