<h3>How to Prevent Online Harassment of Women in India 2020:</h3>

<p>Whenever we come across the word cyber crime, chills run down our spine, isn’t it? Everyday numerous women are subjected to harassment, many of which result in depression and suicide. According to a survey conducted by Feminism, more than 50% of the women residing in urban areas are victims of harassment. According to another research, every 8 out of 10 individuals in India will be subjected to cyber bullying at least at some point in their lives.</p>

<p>Some of the forms of cyber bulling include posting demeaning comments, spreading false information about a women’s character, issuing online threats, creating fake IDs with the pictures of the victim and thus trying to permanently damage the woman’s image. Out of the respondents to an online research conducted by Symantec, 63?ced online abuses and insults while 59% were subjected to false rumours. It also ranked India as the country with the highest number cases of cyber bullying in Asia Pacific region, way ahead of Japan and Australia.</p>

<p>Some of the cases that have emerged in the last decade demonstrate the gravity of this heinous crime. In 2017, a woman jumped off the cliff in Kerala. In February of the same year, a woman started receiving death and rape threats online because she took part in a campaign in Delhi. These are just few horrifying examples in an ocean that has plenty more. Cyber crime has turned into an epidemic with more and more countries across continents becoming the hotspot. </p>

<p>One of the major reasons of increase in these instances is the heightened use of social media sites with less or no restrictions by the guardians. People even fake their identity in these sites before writing nasty comments or demeaning the character of the victim. Anonymity in the cyber world provides a feeling that they can spread any rumour without being identified. Also, most of the victims are in the adolescent stage which makes them vulnerable to the hate comments posted online. Sometimes, despite nasty comments victims are afraid to open up to their parents fearing how they would react to these circumstances. These factors, no matter how insubstantial they might seem, are some of the key drivers of these unpleasant situations and determine how the victim reacts.  </p>

<p>If we investigate further into the behavioural pattern of the hate spreader, we might come across certain psychological traits that he/ she possess which can be congenital in nature. Many times, kids go through violence within their family. It bottles up for years since there is no outlet to it. Some of the kids channelize this bottled up energy in a positive way but there are plenty others who use it the negative way. They show traits of a bully since childhood which strengthens with time. As the child grows up it becomes his / her nature to bully others and to find every means for harassing victims, be it online or offline.  </p>

<p>At this point I would like to narrate a personal experience with such a disturbed child. I was in my kindergarten when a girl in my class would bite me, push me in the stair, slap me and treat me in every inhuman way possible for a kid of that age. I repeatedly complained my class teacher but no actions were taken. I along with my parents finally went up to the headmistress. This case was looked into and many students came up with similar complaints. That girl was eventually rusticated but it was found out later that she had a miserable life back home. Her parents kept fighting and she was subjected to domestic violence which led to such a behaviour of hers at school. The point of this anecdote was that in order to curb the rising cases of social media harassment towards women, we should investigate properly the matter to find out the actual reason behind the spread of such hate. I am sure some people do it out of a misogyny mentality but many could be the culmination of such domestic imbalance which leads them to vent it out online behind an anonymous identity.</p>

<p>The reasons of bullying differs between men and women. Men tend to create a hierarchy amongst themselves since bullying is also known as a form of aggression and men are known to be of aggressive nature. Amongst women, the reasons are quite numerous with the majority of them doing it for resources. Resources here could mean social status and popularity. The list of adolescents being cyber bullied is long and agonizing and can have far reaching debilitating effect for both males and females. </p>

<p>Government has put several laws and regulations in place with the intent of curbing this rising menace. But the laws can only help tract down the perpetrator and sentence him. The real game-changer will be their rehabilitation back into the society. It’s important to reach the inception point in order to know the reason behind such behaviour so that it can be uprooted from it’s roots. The bully has to be counselled as a pre-emptive measure. It is important to trace the suspect but it is also equally important to deracinate the actual reason behind such behavioural pattern in order to create a safer society. </p>

<p><strong>Cyber Security for Women:</strong><br>
An unfortunate number of women are becoming victims of cybercrimes including young women between the age of 18-24 years. Here are some of the steps that should be undertaken to remain and secure in the virtual world. </p>

<ol>
 <li><strong>Never share the passwords: </strong>Keeping a strong password is essential and even more essential is not sharing them with anyone. Passwords should be only known to yourself. Also keeping different passwords for different sites is a health cyber security practice. </li>
 <li><strong>Do not leave your webcam connected: </strong>Many apps can connect to your webcam and secretly relay your movement without your knowledge. So it’s better to turn off your camera when not in use.</li>
 <li><strong>Do not share more than necessary: </strong>You should not share intimate photos, videos, messages etc. online that can come back later to haunt and embarrass you.</li>
 <li><strong>Update all your operating systems on your device: </strong>It helps protect your data efficiently. Updating your software provide better security against newest form of malwares and viruses.</li>
 <li><strong>Secure your device with anti-virus: </strong>This helps protect your device from different kind of unknown threat including viruses. </li>
 <li><strong>Block people you don’t want to interact with: </strong>It is nothing wrong to block or avoid people whom you don’t know. Do not talk with strangers or share any personal information with them.</li>
</ol>

<p>These are some basic but important things one should keep in mind to prevent being victims of cybercrimes. Men and women alike need to keep in mind that nothing is more important than personal safety. The internet is fun but can be evil if necessary precautions are not adhered to.</p>
