Alaul Alam
It is obvious that the country is undergoing a huge change with a view to establishing digitization in every sphere of life and in this regard getting closer to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and growing internet penetration are considered as positive indicators of development. But the pre-occupied social and psychological settings lead to digital sexual harassment, especially against girls and women, thanks to smartphones, social media and messaging apps.
Sexual harassment in the digital era has increased manifolds as technologies have made it easier for harassers to prey on their victims. Actually it refers to unwanted digital interactions that may initially include unwelcome materials and content posted to the victim.
It may be in other forms like making comments and rumors about victim’ sexualities or sharing intimate photos of the victim without her consent. The harassers are not always complete strangers, but may also be friends or acquaintances from off-line social interactions.
Sexual harassment may be formed in different ways such as hacking, cyber-pornography, and blackmailing, etc. A recent study conducted by a non- government organization shows that seventy percent of the people subjected to online harassment in the capital are women whose age range is between 15 and 25 years. The ratio of harassment may be the same across the country.
Actually sexual harassment is a kind of sexual crime that occurs against women to defame them or take revenge or compel them for physical relation. Sometimes it befalls to blackmail the victim for money and in some cases, physiological torture, ego and the obsession for love and emotion etc. may be the reasons.
Though sexual harassment against women is not a new phenomenon, in many cases it goes unreported because women fear being stigmatized. Apart from this, majority think that they would not get any justice.
The effects of the sexual harassment are so severe. These are not only confined into the victims but also have a chain reaction on their families. For example, when a girl’s exposed photographs are published along with a spicy fabricated story, the online users start commenting and sharing the post without justifying whether the source is reliable.
However, a report shows that around 90 percent of the instances of online violence are not stated by the victims. However, according to human rights group Ain-o-Salish Kendra, 1,000 incidents of rape were reported between January and September this year, and more than a fifth of them were gang rapes.
It is observed that the most recent horrifying footage of a woman sexually harassed in the south-eastern district of Noakhali made people outcry. The victim was a 35 years old woman who was brutally tortured, with some men reportedly stripping her clothes off and filming the incident on mobile phones as she refused to respond to the extortion demands.
Another report of sexual crime occurred in Rangamati exposed in different dailies stating that a man went on allegedly raping a woman through blackmailing her by threatening to release her private photos over the internet.
No doubt these two incidents are not the isolated ones rather most often, may be in every day girls and women are succumbed to enduring such sexual crimes against them and online sexual harassment is making the situation more vulnerable.
Following the heinous sexual crimes anti-rape protests continued across the country and different socio-cultural and rights organizations took to the streets to condemn the growing incidents of rape, sexual harassment and violence against women.
On top of that the United Nations called for the speedy trial of cases involving violence against women in Bangladesh and advocated for reforming of the criminal justice system to support victims and witnesses of rape and violence.
Amid the huge outrage the government has amended the act to include the death penalty for perpetrators of rape along with the existing highest punishment of a life-term with rigorous imprisonment.
But there is a long debate across the country that will the new law eradicate rape culture from the country? Human rights activists and experts opine that it is imperative to ensure proper investigations and fair trials instead of inserting the death penalty.
Another thing is that rape is not the single most issue happening in the country. Every day many more online sexual harassments go unabatedly that need to be addressed with the stickiest approach.
Legal experts note that there are some existing acts such as, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Act 2006 and Pornography Control Act 2012. The question is pertinent to ask, how far they can act to eliminate online women violence. Are these laws adequate to stop digital sexual crimes? In many cases things get tougher to address digitally.
To this end it is time to review the circumstance and take strict actions to eliminate all sorts of digital sexual harassment against women. It finds no alternatives to restoring a friendly environment for the women in the country. More importantly, creating public awareness and making the nation equipped with moral education is a must to combat the ongoing humiliation against women.
Alaul Alam: teaches at Prime University
Email: malaulalam@gmail.com
