In modern societies, the concept of maximized justice of individuals, especially that of the subaltern section of the society, comes in conflict with that of the interest of the state and societal perceptions of restrictive justice. It can be often seen that this restrictive form of justice favours the male-dominated society where rules are carefully formulated in their favour. Social media in no way offers a fair platform for women to express their individual opinion without fear. Violence is perpetrated against women through social media platforms like any other institution of society in order to ensure the dominance of men and patriarchal social values. Feminism addresses this character and intention of violence directed against women. Hence, it is considered to be an efficient theory to understand the reason and causes for increasing violence against women in social media.
With the advent of social media platforms, women worldwide have turned vulnerable to technological crimes like morphing, fake profiling, and cyber bullying. Though the provisions of IPC and provisions of the Information Technologies Act try to prevent these crimes to an extent, the efficiency of these laws is still a matter of doubt. Further, society trains women to ignore the cyber bullying that they face in social media. Thus, even these digital platforms have turned into a space of male dominance. Feminist activists who express their personal opinions have been hunted down by the rivals using social media platforms. They use social media as a means for character assassination, for making sexual remarks, and even to make rape threats. Thus, the choice of speech and expression of women are limited in social media. These offenses continue to increase regardless of strict actions on the part of police and the state. The offenders also prefer social media to do the same as it acts as a veil that protects their identity. Here the state not only fails to ensure women protection against cyber violence but also fails to ensure their freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Indian constitution. This inaction of the state forces the women to keep themselves out of these platforms or hide their identity while being on these platforms.
Though cyber violence against women raises serious concerns regarding their freedom of speech and expression, it remains unaddressed by the legislature and judiciary. This might even be due to the reason of lack of awareness among women regarding their rights in cyberspace or might be due to the failure to understand the scope of Article 19 (1) (a) in cyberspace. Further, women who are forced to remain in silence can in no way be said to live with dignity. Thus, it not only leads to the violation of freedom of speech and expression but also leads to the violation of the right to dignity.
Indian constitution is based upon two pillars, one being the pillar of democracy and the other being the pillar of justice. Though one may feel that India as a democracy is technically fulfilling all the essential requirements of democracy, it remains a fact that democratic justice is still a forbidden fruit to the subaltern class of the society, especially to the women. As a democratic and civilized nation, the system at times fails to identify the existence of the justice pillar of the constitution. The Justice pillar of the constitution guarantees justice to all the sections of the society regardless of one’s class, caste, sex, or any other modes of affiliations. Justice can be said to be done only when what is due to the aggrieved is provided. When the law fails to provide victims of violence justice, it essentially proves the need to strengthen the justice pillar guaranteed by the constitution. The reason for the failure of the justice pillar of the constitution in providing justice to the subaltern class of the society, especially women, maybe due to the flawed base on which laws are based upon. One can find a solution to this existing problem by identifying the jurisprudence that can isolate and study the reason for continuing increase of crimes against women.
Article 21 guarantees one the right to enjoy his life in its fullest form. Mere survival will only provide for partial satisfaction of Article 21. When violence is used as a tool to pull out a section of the society from the public platforms, it not only leads to violation of the right to life but also leads to subsequent violations of Article 19 (1)(a) and Article 14 of the constitution. Usually, such violations are used as a tool to keep the underprivileged and especially the women of the society suppressed. Violence against women thus constitutes the major obstacle for achieving the true meaning of the term women’s human rights. The theoretical and legal framework of feminism recognizes physical, sexual, psychological, economic, and institutional violence against women. However, it is essential to understand the current definition of the term “violence against women” so as to clearly identify the extent of injustice done to them. Article 1 of Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women define violence as:
“Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women irrespective of their marital status on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in political, economic social cultural, civil or any other field.”
The main reason for the increasing violence against women is due to the power inequalities that exist between women and men. Violence against women is thus not only a gendered act that violates the fundamental human rights of women, but it is also a means of discrimination. Women who are engaged in the field of politics, social services media, and academics are particularly vulnerable to the violence in social media as they challenge the existing notions of patriarchy. Social media is a very easily accessible platform for women in this technologically advanced world. It can also be used as a vital tool to turn the world’s attention towards the injustices that women are facing in society. Campaigns like that of #MeToo have shed light on the issue of abuse of women. While women are still underrepresented in all other institutions of the patriarchal society, social media offers them a more level playing ground allowing views of women from different backgrounds to be heard out loud in the society. However, like any other institution of patriarchal society, women are more likely to be subjects of cyber abuse on social media platforms. Social media is notorious for its wild nature, anonymity, and massive reach, which creates a multitude of hostile gender abuse.
Violence against women in social media curtails their fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression by discouraging them from involving equally in the public space. General macho aggressive tone and abuse content are so similar and widespread that they are credible evidence of severe backlash and rising hostility of women in cyberspace. Women are also thus hostile to meaningful sharing of the power. Rather than focusing on fighting back or teaching women to ignore violence, we need to look up for the reasons for such a high level of machismo online. Mere muttering about either patriarchy or approaches to control violence is of no use. The leading cause for abuse against women in social media platforms is that “men are effectively using the social systems to keep the women suppressed and even the system sides with such attempts.” Thus the law should be victim-oriented, and the focus should be on protecting the victim and not on punishing individual perpetrators for tackling the problem embedded in unequal sharing of gender power. Then only the constitutional pillar of justice will be strengthened.
India lacks a nationwide comprehensive study on the issue of violence against women in social media. India also has no dedicated legislation to deal with violence against women in social media. The two central legislations that remotely address this issue of violence against women in social media are the Indian Penal Code of 1860 and the Information Technology Act of 2000. However, it remains the fact that the objective of the IT Act is not to deal with these kinds of offenses but to reduce the risk of transacting online. Further, even when the cases are registered, the onus is put on women to ensure that their private information is not leaked. Victim blaming by law officials has become a usual scenario. Thus the victims are often reluctant to approach the police or other law enforcement officials seeking justice. Thus women in general and activists and professionals are particularly vulnerable to receiving sexist and misogynistic comments that often escalate to criminal abuse in the form of rape and death threats. Women who face online abuse often exit or suppress their further visibility online. Multitude of abusers works in tandem, and they are often referred to as troll army. Concerns about internet freedom further bring tension to this issue.
Sexism and misogyny in electronic media have increased dramatically during recent days. The daily newspaper report, which cites instances of social media platforms being used as an effective tool to perpetrate violence against women, raises genuine concerns. It shows how social media platforms act as an effective catalyst by providing a safe harbour for the perpetrators of violence. Social media is answerable for the massive increase in sex trafficking, pornography, revenge pornography, sexting, and cyber bullying. Women are easily targeted in social media for expressing their views. Thus social media has become a powerful vehicle for misogynistic threats and harassment, which subsequently result in the silencing of women. Online violence and abuse of women deny them the right to express themselves freely and equally without fear. A 2017 international study by Amnesty International provides that over more than 76% of women had experienced abuse or harassment in social media. Thus, violence against women in social media is a global problem. This demands the legal fraternity to examine the basic lacunas in the current jurisprudential understanding of such crimes and examine the same from the perspective of the abused, which in this case are the women.
Violence against women human rights defenders and activists in social media aims to damage their credibility as public workers by diminishing their voices and restricting their already limited public space. When one looks into the case studies, it is very evident that victims of violence in social media face damage to their freedom of speech and expression, economic, social, political, and cultural spheres of their life. As observed by Japleen Pasricha in her article Violence Online in India: Cybercrimes Against Women and Minorities on Social Media:
“What we have today is a flawed internet that reflects the offline world we live in where women and marginalize communities are abused, harassed, threatened, stalked, and violated daily it discourages marginalised groups from using the internet to access important news and discourages them from voicing their opinions.”
Here comes the relevance of a jurisprudential theory that will give one the right diagnoses of the cause for the increasing violence against women. Being the most vulnerable amongst the subaltern class in a society dominated by patriarchy, it is necessary to look into this issue through the eyes of a jurisprudential theory that protectively discriminates women from others. Feminism, in particular, appears to be the best diagnostic technique available for us to find the cause and suggest a remedy to this issue. Feminists view society as one that is dominated by men in which women are oppressed, and they seek to abolish patriarchy in order to “liberate everyone from an unjust society by challenging the existing societal norms and restrictions.” These include but are not limited to opposing the sexual objectification of women, violence against women, and challenging the concept of gender roles. Feminism diagnoses the root cause for the violence against women in patriarchal gender relations. This theory argues that a patriarchal society view women as someone other to the male norm and such have been systematically oppressed and marginalized by the social system which is in place. Even the justice system is designed in favour of men, giving them an unfair advantage and an extra edge over women. Thus the technology, which is supposed to be a liberating force which is having the power to resolve the existing gaps and disadvantages that women are facing in society, has, however, proved counterproductive by siding itself with the historical institutions of patriarchy.