Author: Arohi Jain, Renaissance Law College
TO THE POINT
The alarming rise of cybercrime targeting women is a complex legal and social challenge. The technological advancement offers opportunities, but they have also created new avenues for harassment, abuse and exploitation, disproportionately affecting women. Cybercrime against women manifests in various forms, often leveraging the anonymity and widespread reach of the internet. “The study found that the most common cybercrime committed against women in India includes cyber stalking, online harassment, doxing, sextortion and revenge pornography, as these crimes often go unreported due to unawareness about the legal options available to the victim and the lack of social acceptance and awareness. The offence remains unreported as the victim lacks trust in the investigating agencies and due to the long process of justice. The issue related to cybercrime and online harassment is reported under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Amendment Act 2000, and it was amended in 2008.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, cyberspace has become part of our daily lives, and with the excessive use of technology, online offences have significantly risen and become a threat to society. Any illegal activities carried out by the use of technology and committed on an online platform, the impact of cybercrime includes a broad range of offences such as fraud, blackmail, pornography, cyber hacking and cyber defamation, where women were targeted for their personal and financial information. The victim of these cases frequently faces fear, anxiety, emotional trauma and depression, sometimes lead to extreme consequences like suicide. They may also suffer social isolation, reputational damages and economic consequences. The legal provisions to combat cybercrime through the Information Technology Act 2000 and the Indian Penal Code were significantly challenged. The lack of awareness among victims about their legal rights and society’s stigma affects the justice for the people. The existing law often struggles to keep pace with and sophistication of cyber offences, and to address cybercrime in India against women, it is necessary to strengthen the legal provisions and also ensure changes in the procedure of law.
USE OF LEGAL JARGON
The rise of cybersecurity in India has led the changes in legal provisions to combat crimes. The Indian legal framework includes laws such as the Information Technology Law, the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act,2005. The Information Technology Act primarily deals with cybercrime in India under section 66E (violation of privacy), section 67 (publishing obscene material), section 66A (publishing sexually explicit material), section 72A (breach of privacy and confidentiality and section 67B (publishing material depicting children in a sexually explicit act). The act was enacted to provide legal recognition for electronic transactions and to facilitate e-governance. The Indian Penal Code deals with criminal offences, and the law provides punishment for cyber offences against women in India, such as sexual harassment (section 354A), defamation (section 499), and domestic violence, insulting a woman’s modesty (section 509) and stalking (section 354D).
The Protection of Children from sexual offences act and it Intermediary Guideline Act, which deal with online offences against women. Recently, the Indecent Representation of Women Amendment Bill 2012, which regulates and prohibits the indecent representation of women through the media of advertisement, publication, etc.
THE PROOF
The most common cybercrime committed against women is cyber blackmail, threat, cyberpornography and publishing obscene sexual content, stalking, bullying, defamation and establishing fake profiles. As per the NCRB report, a total of 52974 cases were registered under cybercrimes, which shows an increase of 5.9% in registration over 2020 and if compared with 2019 data, the number of cybercrime incidents in 2021 has gone up by 18.4 per cent. The share of the crime rate under total conducted crime increases from 3.7 to 3.9. One of the reports indicated 156938 such incidents in 2024, compared to 141264 in 2023. The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance for cybercrime prevention against women and children, and in 2022, the national cyber forensic laboratory was established to provide the necessary forensic support in cases of evidence related to cybercrime, preserving the evidence and its analysis in line with the provision of the IT act and evidence act.
CASE LAWS
1. Ritu Kohil vs Manish Kathuria- the case is cited as one of the first major cyberstalking cases in India. Manish Kathuria was accused of creating the fake profile of Ritu Kohil on a matrimonial website, posting her contact details and using obscene language. This case brought to light the need specific law to address cyber offences, as pre-existing laws are found to be insufficient to cover the nature of digital crimes.
2. State of Tamil Nadu vs Dr L Prakash (2009)- this case involves the publication of obscene content online. It was a significant case under section 67 of the IT Act”While not solely focused on crimes against women, such a case contributes to the legal precedent for addressing the spread of illicit content, which disproportionately affects the women as victims of revenge porn.
3. Avinesh Bajaj vs the state- this case involves the CEO of a website where an MMS was leaked online. The Delhi High Court granted him anticipatory bail, emphasizing that while the content was objectionable, the CEO might not have directly participated in uploading. This case sparked the debate and responsibility of the platform for content upload on sites.
4. Sri Surya vs State of Kerala – In this case, the college student complained about the frequent online harassment, which later highlighted the growing issue of online harassment and cyberbullying faced by women on online platforms.
CONCLUSION
In recent years, cybercrime against women has become increasingly prevalent, the impact of the crime serves as the various ranging from mental illness to physical and financial loss. While the legal framework that combats cyber offences is insufficient and ineffective in nature, and faces backlash due to unawareness and society’s unacceptance.
FAQS
1.What are the most common type of cybercrime targeting women?
Cyber stalking, online harassment or bullying, impersonation, phishing and scam , sextortion and deepfake content are the major crime against women.
2.What should a woman do if she become a victim of cybercrime?
If any crime commit against women so primarily they do not panic, start gathering evidence, report the crime, block the offender, seek legal help and reach out for emotional support.
3.Why don’t many women report cybercrime?
Usually women do not report crime because fear of victim blaming , emotional distress or trauma and social stigma.
