How the internet can crush a woman's freedom
Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in this country, one granted by its esteemed Constitution. Yet people who dare to voice an opinion diverse from the majority end up paying a heavy price.
The advent of social media, internet penetration and a more technologically sound populace ensured many voices to find a platform to air their views, but what it also did was empower the intolerant, the fundamentalists and the biased to victimise anyone who did not adhere to their sensibilities and belief system.
In a country of more than a billion, is it so difficult to understand that, diversity of opinion, of beliefs, of tastes, of faiths, of sensibilities is a given? Then why is there a need to homogenise public opinion. Why is it necessary to silence an opinion different from the majority, aren’t such acts against the very principles of democracy?
Does the anonymity of the internet act as a catalyst in letting out the beast that is inherent in our basic nature?
Recently, I was trolled and abused online by people who did not share my views on one year of Modi government. From questioning my intellect, to my appearance, my faith, to calling me an agent of Sonia Gandhi, the abuses hurled were quite creative, giving away the limited understanding of those who found it easier to abuse than reason.
My only solace, I am neither the first nor the last such victim of social media bullying, many before and after me have been. What does worry me is the rise in the incidence of such events and the fact that it is women who are the usual victims. Sagrika Ghose, Dia Mirza, Shruti Sethi, Kavitha Krishnan, the list just goes on. The problem is, not that these women have been opposed for their views, which is expected, but they have been terrorised with dire consequences, to be inflicted on them and their loved ones; from ripping them off their dignity, demeaning them publicly to threatening them with rape, because they dared to voice their anti-popular opinions.
Is this how a civil society debates?
While the technological advancements, higher levels of awareness, gives one hope that India as a country has managed to progress from being a misogynous society to one that is more accepting of all its citizens as equals, frequent acts of violence and abuse against women, leave you believing otherwise.
In an exploratory study of women and online verbal abuse in India by the Internet Democracy Project, titled "Don’t let it Stand!" by Anja Kovacs, Richa Kaul Padte and Shobha SV, it was found that most often the threats were made because it was a woman on the other side. As the report states: “To have a vagina and a strong opinion was enough to get abused.”
Why are we so threatened by women with a voice, a mind, an opinion? What is it about them that intimidates us?
When will we be socially mature enough to accept that women have an equal say in everything that concerns them?
On one end the government is taking initiatives to encourage education of girl child, of instilling pride in parenting a girl child, but what about the society these girls are growing up in, is it ready to accept, educated independent girls with a mind of their own? When will the perception, shift? When will we stop seeing women as objects of gratification and see them as partners in nation building. Selfies with daughters, might be a great initiative, but what this country needs at this hour is a serious thought on how prepared are we for this generation of more aware women?
As a woman who has been at the end of cyberbullying, the consequences I bear go far beyond mental trauma. The immediate reaction of loved ones is to advice on how in a country like ours, it is sensible for women to keep their opinions to themselves. The need to share such views publicly at the stake of personal security is questioned and final solution offered is to stay away from voicing an opinion on anything that is anti-majority, basically stick with writing on apolitical and so called “safe and soft” topics, for the safety and well being of not just myself, but all others associated with me as well.
Is it justified? To have my right to expression curtailed because I choose to differ from the view of the majority? What meaning does education hold, if I am not allowed to think, understand and have a perspective, which may or may not comply with the mass opinion.
I feel the inorganic penetration of technology, without the proper understanding of its end consequences has created more problems in the society than it has solved. Today a smartphone is all you need to destroy someone, especially a woman.
In the past a woman had to worry about her safety on the streets and public spaces only, but now, she is not spared in the realms of her private space too. From changing rooms to her own bedroom, there is no place she can be too careless.
The recent incidents of a girl being stripped naked in Kashmir and her video going viral on WhatsApp or rapists sharing the video of their victims on social media are proof of the gory times we live in, as if the crime of public shaming or raping these women was not enough. Every person who shared these videos participated in the crime, if there is no demand for such voyeuristic content, it would have died at the source itself.
The existing laws are too slow to catch up with the perpetrators of cyber crime. Behind anonymous profiles, faceless tormentors await their next victim...