Cyber Crimes Against Women & Children - Problems And Perspectives
Author: LawSphereX
Category: Criminal Law
Published:
Updated:
CYBER CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN & CHILDREN:
PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES Shivanshu Mishra, LLM (Specialization in Constitutional and Administrative Laws), Centre of Post Graduate Legal Studies, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow Pratyush Mishra, LLM (Specialization in Constitutional and Administrative Laws), Centre of Post Graduate Legal Studies, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow
ABSTRACT
India is considered to be the flag bearer of fourth industrial revolution i. e. technological revolution. It is quite evident that due to the growth of technology in the country, there has been a rise in cyber offences. The offenders consider women and children as a soft target. Cyber prayers always found that women and children are more vulnerable to this crime. This fact can be proved by the NCRB report which shows there is a tremendous rise in the cyber crimes against children. This article will deal with detail explanation of types of cyber crimes that occurs against the above mentioned strata This paper will also put emphasis on the laws which are governing India with respect to cyber crime against women and children. As India is a developing country in terms of economy as well as legal system, we need to look global perspective about the same.
Hence, this paper will compare the laws governing in United States of America and United Kingdom. There will also be emphasis on what actually is the current status of the applied laws in India and its trends in cyber crimes. And in the last leg of this article, there will be a critical analysis of current law and loopholes in the current cyber legal system. The paper will also discuss possible solutions or suggestions so that the current system can improve. Judiciary plays an important role in shaping and interpreting the laws, so this article aims to study judicial approach and recent development in the same subject matter. At last the article will analyze how lockdown during COVID-19 impacted cyber crimes against women and children. Keywords: Cyber Crimes, Women and Children, IT Act, Covid-19, Global Perspective
1 INTRODUCTION
India had many revolutions throughout the years since independence like green revolution, white revolution etc. After 2000s, the country has seen a boom in technology industry. There has been a technological revolution throughout the decade and afterwards too and is in continuous process. With the advancement of technology, the country has seen a rise in cyber crimes too. At the point when Internet was created, the establishing fathers of Internet barely had any tendency that Internet could change itself into an all overrunning upheaval which could be abused for crimes and which required guideline. The offenders have many a times used it in doing several crimes. It has been termed as cyber crimes.
Cyber Crime is not defined in any statutory act in India but in simple words it can be defined as any illegal act or omission wherein computer or technological gadgets are either used as a tool or target or both. Specifically, if we talk about women, it is defined as “violations focused against ladies with a thought process to purposefully hurt the person in question psychologically and physically, using modern telecommunication networks such as internet and mobile phones1" and likewise the same definition can be applied in the case of children. The growing rate of these cases against women and children are major issues for countries and India is not an exception to this. 2.
TYPES OF CYBER CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN The increasing rate of the cyber offences has made it very hard to classify the crimes but in broad themes we can distinguish the different forms of abuse against these weak strata of the society. Firstly, we will deal the offences that are against women and in the next sub-point offences against children are dealt with.
2.1 OFFENCES AGAINST WOMEN
§ Cyber Stalking: Stalking is defined as following someone from a long period of time and when it is done through electronic gadgets like computer, cell- phones etc it is called Cyber Stalking. In other words, browsing anyone’s online history with the help of any social media or in other websites to know about that particular person is term as
1 DEBRATI HALDER & K. JAISHANKAR, CYBER CRIME AND THE VICTIMIZATION OF WOMEN
LAWS, RIGHTS AND REGULATIONS (1st ed. IGI Global 2011). stalking. 2 The stalker follows each and every moment of the victim online and the offender can access certain confidential information which is violative of the person’s privacy. In most of cases, it has been seen that the intention behind these obsession for love, hate, revenge, harassment. § Cyber Defamation: It means that spreading false information through electronic mode such as social media emails etc. In this case, false information about the victim is sent to various people or the information is published on any website. The information is generally accepted by the people just because it is on the internet and it is a misconception that everything is true if it is on the net. The false information spread very fast which results into harming the dignity of the women.
§ Voyeurism: Any man who watches, or catches the picture of a women participating in a private demonstration in conditions where she would normally have the desire for not being noticed either by the culprit or by some other individual at the command of the culprit or spreads such picture3 is said to have committed the crime of voyeurism. § Cyber Bullying & Harassment: It includes bullying and harassment such has giving threats, morphing pictures of women into compromising positions, demanding unwanted sexual favors etc. Bullying is a form of harassment where the superior influence is used to intimidate a person to do something which she otherwise will not do in normal circumstance. It includes theft, forgery, cheating etc.
2.2 OFFENCES AGAINST CHILDREN
§ Child Pornography: Pornography has been characterized as the sexual unequivocal portrayal of people, in words or pictures, made with the essential, proximate point and sensible expectation, of evoking huge sexual excitement with respect to the buyer of such material and when it is done with a child4 then it is called a Child Pornography. 2Rohit Lohia, Cyber Stalking in India, LEGAL SERVICES, (Nov.18, 2023,3:39PM) http://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-1048-cyber-stalking-in-india.html.
3 The Indian Penal Code, No. 45 of 1860, § 354C, INDIA CODE, (1860).
4 Kiran Bharadwaj, Cyber Crimes And Its Impact on Children And The Alternative Solutions, INDIA LEGAL, (Nov.20, 2023,3:39PM) https://www.indialegallive.com/top-news-of-the-day/news/cyber-crimes-and-its-impacton-children-and-the-alternativesolutions/#:~:text=Types%20of%20Cyber%20Crime%20against%20Children%3A&text=Child%20Pornograph y%20is%20an%20illegal,the%20age%20of%2018%20years.
§ Online Child Trafficking: Technology gives the devices that traffickers can utilize. Online resources, for example, open and characterized commercial destinations, adult sites, social media stages, chat-rooms, reaching out into the dark web empower traffickers to connect with an expanding number of possible victims. § Bullying & Harassment: Just like in the case of women, there have been cases of online bullying & harassment. Morphing of pictures, giving online threats to children through various websites are included in this category. It includes theft, forgery, cheating etc.
3. LAWS IN INDIA PREVENTING CYBER CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN &
CHILDREN.
There are majorly 3 lines of defensive laws that are in force to combat these types of crimes. Firstly, in the general law of crimes there is Indian Penal Code where in there have been several amendment to include these newly developed crimes. Secondly, there is Information Technology Act wherein a special act has been passed to deal with cyber offences. Lastly, Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences is passed to protect children from sexual offences.
3.1. CYBER LAWS FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN IN INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860
Indian penal code provides several provisions to combat cyber crime. Although, these are general laws and they can be used if there is no law or the special law is silent about the subject matter. A large number of the digital wrongdoings punished by the IPC and the IT Act have similar fixings and even terminology. 5 After the Nirbhaya Case in 2012, there has been several changes in code, one of the major amendments was in section 354. 354A provides punishment for sexual harassment. This type of harassment will include if a person demand sexual favor against any women or showing pornography to women against her will. There have been cases where there has been a demand of sexual favor online forcefully. And since pornographic materials are generally available at 5 Vinod Josephy & Diya Ray, Cyber Crimes in the IPC and IT Act - An Uneasy Co-Existence, ARGUS PARTNERS, (Nov.
20, 2023, 8:59PM) https://www. argus-p. com/papers-publications/thought-paper/cyber-crimes-in-the-ipcand-it-act-an-uneasy-coexistence/? utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=LinkedIn-integration. internet, an online sexual harassment can be possible in some circumstances. In these cases, the accused shall be guilty of the offence of sexual harassment, may be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. 6 Section 354C of the Code provides definition and punishment for voyeurism. It basically divides two offences in one category. The first part penalize act of the man which involves watching or clicking picture of a women who is engaging in some private act and secondly, it penalizes the distribution of such images.
Although, this is a general provision but it will including spreading of private pictures through internet as there are several platforms to do so. This section will include the offence of revenge porn. It is characterized as enthusiastically distributing, circling, dispersing or printing any obscene explicit material without the assent of the individual to disgrace the victim. 7 Judiciary has also accepted this offence. Section 354D provides the punishment against stalking. It defines stalking as an act in which the man consistently flows or tries to contact despite disinterest of the women and while doing this the man screens the utilization by a lady of the internet, email, or some other type of electronic correspondence. 8 This offence like the earlier two offence include the cyber element too.
It means that if the offence is done through online or electronic mode, this section will attract then too. The punishment for the committing this offence is imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine if done for the first time. 9 Furthermore, the provision mentioned in section 292 and 294 can also be applicable in cyber crime cases. Section 292 provides that if any one sells, distributes, publicly exhibits or in any manner which puts into circulation or has in his possession any obscene book, pamphlet, paper, drawing, painting, representation of any obscene object will be held liable under this section and will be punished with either imprisonment extended up to 2 years and with fine up to Rs. 2000.
Section 294 of the IPC penalizes a person who do any kind of obscene act in any public place will be punished to imprisonment up to 3 months or fine or both.
6 Cyber Laws In India- Women, INFORMATION SECURITY EDUCATION AND AWARENESS,(Nov.18, 2023,10:45PM)
https://www.infosecawareness.in/concept/women/cyber-laws-in-india.
7 Shreya Mohanty, Cyber Crimes Against Women
What do the Indian Laws Say? PRO BONO INDIA, (Nov.20, 2023, 10:00PM) http://probono-india.in/blog-detail.php?id=118. Neha Gururani, Offences against women, IPLEADERS, Nov.20, 2023, 10:00PM) https://blog.ipleaders.in/offences-against-women/.
9 The Indian Penal Code, No. 45 of 1860, § 354D (2), INDIA CODE, (1860).
However, IPC generally is silent about the cyber crimes against children but there are few sections where the accused can be held guilty even if he/she has did it online. Although, section
292 and 294 is applicable to children as well. Furthermore, section 366A penalize procuration
of minor girls. If any person by any mean induces any minor girl under the age of eighteen years to go from any place or to do any act with intent that such girl may be, or knowing that it is likely that she will be, forced or seduced to illicit intercourse with another person shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.10 Another section pair of section which can be brought under the preview of cyber law is section
372 and 373. It prohibits buying and selling of girls who are below 18 years. We have discussed
it earlier how children trafficking can be done through internet.
3.2 CYBER LAWS FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT.
The parliament of India passed the special law for dealing with the cyber offences in the year
2000 i.e. Information Technology Act. Although, there was IPC but the law makers saw the
rise in the cyber crimes and felt the need special law. There are several provisions which protect women as well children in the same act. Section 66C of the IT Act provides that any person who fraudulently or dishonestly make use of the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to rupees one lakh. It basically prohibits cyber harassment such as identity theft. Although, it is a gender neutral law and can be used for protection of men too. Another section which is one of the most important section is 66E which deals with violation of privacy.
Capturing, publishing or transmitting the image of a private area of any person without her consent, under circumstances violating her privacy, is punishable with imprisonment, which may extend to three years, and/or fine. Section 67 of the IT Act, 2000 prescribes punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene materials electronically. IT (Amendment) Act, 2008 also introduced Section 67 A for publishing or transmitting sexually explicit acts electronically. Section 67 B bans publishing or transmitting of material displaying children in sexually explicit act, in electronic form. Creating
10 The Indian Penal Code, No. 45 of 1860, § 366A (2), INDIA CODE, (1860).
text or digital images, collecting, seeking, browsing, downloading, advertising, promoting, exchanging or distributing child pornographic material depicting children in obscene manner is banned by Section 67 B. Any person who entices the children ‘for and on sexually explicit act or in a manner that may offend a reasonable adult on the computer resources’ or abuses children on the internet or records electronically ‘own abuse or that of others pertaining to sexual explicit act with children’ is punishable with imprisonment for a term that may extend to five years and fine of upto 10 lakh rupees.11
3.3 CYBER LAWS FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN IN POCSO ACT.
POCSO is one of the most vital legislation to deal with sexual offences and harassment against children. In this act basically, sexual harassment, child pornography, and sexual assault is prohibited. Section 11 in the said Act provides defines sexual harassment against children.
It states that a person is said to commit sexual harassment upon a child when such person with sexual intent, if any part of his body so as it is seen by such person or any other person shows any object to a child in any form or media for pornographic purposes repeatedly or constantly follows or watches or contacts a child either directly or through electronic, digital or any other means or threatens to use, in any form of media, a real or fabricated depiction through electronic, film or digital or any other mode, of any part of the body of the child or the involvement of the child in a sexual act entices a child for pornographic purposes or gives gratification therefore.
12 Section 13 of the act states that if a person uses a child in any form of media (including programme or advertisement telecast by television channels or internet or any other electronic form or printed form, whether or not such programme or advertisement is intended for personal use or for distribution), for the purposes of sexual gratification, which includes (a) representation of the sexual organs of a child; (b) usage of a child engaged in real or simulated sexual acts (with or without penetration); (c) the indecent or obscene representation of a child, Kavita Seth, Computer Technology Law, LEXIS NEXIS, (Nov. 21,2023,10:30AM), https://elibrary. ddn. upes. ac. in:2058/document/?
pdmfid=1523890&crid=6c0c90c9-d818-4336-8dbe- 24ca30d31e43&pdteaserkey=dz2xk&pdicsfeatureid=1523894&pditab=allpods&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2F document%2Fanalytical-materials-in%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A5V8S-V8B1-DXHD-G4G7-00000- 00&ecomp=dz2xk&earg=sr1&prid=2b645e9a-f229-4bf6-a7d4-e38c190a26da .
12 The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, No.32 of 2012, INDIA CODE (1993).
shall be guilty of the offence of using a child for pornographic purposes. 13 Further section 14 & 15 provides punishment use of children in pornographic material and storage of the same respectively. The former section states that if anyone found using a child for pornographic purposes, then he or she will be punished for not less than 5 years and shall also liable to fine for the first time, for the subsequent time, he or she will be liable for imprisonment for 7 years and liable for fine. Similarly, section 15 provides that if anyone posses any form of pornographic material but fails to destroy it or communicate it to proper authority, then that person will be liable fine of Rs. 5000 for the first time and Rs 10,000 for subsequent time. Clause 2 provides punishment up to 3years if any person posses child pornographic material for transmitting or for circulating purpose.
Similarly, if someone posses the same thing for commercial purpose, the he or she will be liable to punishment up to 7 years and not less than 3 years. Section 19 of the act provides the procedure for reporting cases of child sexual harassment to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the local police and states that the complaint is to be recorded in simple language so as to enable the child to understand the contents of the complain. 14
4. GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE OF CYBER LAWS FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN.
Cyber Crime is something which knows no territorial boundaries. The time is passing too fast and with that cyber crimes too get advance. It is important to know what developed countries like U.K and USA have so that we as country can have in hand defense to counter advance cyber crime. In 2014 the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published the results of a survey on VAW(violence against women) suffered in their families, at work, in public and on the Internet as well as the effect it has on their lives and the way in which victims respond to aggression. Surprisingly the countries with the highest percentage of victims of violence against women are in northern Europe: Denmark (52%), Finland (47%) and Sweden (46%), while Hungary (21%), Austria (20%) and Poland (19%) have much lower rates.15
13 Ibid.
14 Cyber Laws In India- Children, INFORMATION SECURITY EDUCATION AND AWARENESS,(Nov.22,
2023,10:45PM), https://www.infosecawareness.in/concept/children/cyber-laws-in-india. 15 Cyber Violence Against Women & Girls: A world wide woke up call, UN Broadband Commission For Digital Development Working Group On Broadband And Gender, on its special event, at 24th December, U.N doc. (2015).
4.1 CYBER LAWS IN USA FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN
US, is one country, which started the evolution of the Internet and also the first to be affected and the first to retaliate to the ugly side of the Internet, the cyber crimes. US saw a sea of growth in the cyber crimes against women and created new laws to mitigate such crime and prevent future victimization. The 2009-2010 statistics of WHOA shows that women victims have remained a majority and the total percentage is 73% of the victim ratio. The major crime are email communications (34%) followed by Social media and chat rooms etc. 16 The legal system of USA have always been effective & specialized to tackle various issues in one go. The very first instance where cyber laws relating to women was formed by the virtue of The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 1984. This legislation was originally aimed at unauthorized hacking into computer systems and was not focused on personal attack.
17 In that act a major amendment took place so that it could deal with the problem of “Malicious Code“ such as viruses, worms and other programs which are designed to destroy data on a computer. The word hacking itself is defined in this act. In 1986 the Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA) was amended making it illegal to intercept stored or transmitted electronic communication without authorization. It prohibited illegal access and certain disclosures of communication contents. 18 There is another act which deals with the privacy of US citizens i. e. Computer Software Privacy and control Act which basically protects its citizens from eight problems of spyware. The Telephone Harassment Act that was amended in 2006 penalize any person who uses telephone as a medium to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person without disclosing his or identity.
19 The amendment not includes electronic mails too. The US has one more specific law on stalking i. e. Interstate Stalking and Punishment Act. The term has been used as a synonym for cyber harassment in many provincial laws of the US. The act defines online stalking as the conduct of the person which uses electronic mail or any other online services to causes substantial emotional distress to that person or places that person in sensible dread of the demise of, or genuine substantial injury to, any of the persons will be penalized for stalking.
16 DEBRATI HALDER & K. JAISHANKAR, CYBER CRIME AND THE VICTIMIZATION OF WOMEN
LAWS, RIGHTS AND REGULATIONS (1st ed. IGI Global 2011).
17 Jacqueline D. Lipton, Combating Cyber-Victimization,26 BTLJ, 1120, 1120-1121 (2011).
18 RajLakshmi Wagh, Comparative Analysis of Trends of Cyber Crime Laws in USA and India, 2 IJACSIT, 42, 42-50 (2013).
19 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(l), (2) (2006).
Cyber bullying has also been dealt separately in the Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act. This act penalizes any type of conduct which involves person in reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily injury to, by the means of electronic or through online mode. If we talk about cyber laws for children in USA, the certain acts that are mentioned above is equally applicable to children as well but there are certain specific provisions which deals with child pornography. The definition of child pornography is defined under section 2256 of Title
18 of United States Code. It states that any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct
involving a minor (someone under 18 years of age) will come under the ambit of child pornography. The definition of the term “visuals” has been interpreted as photos, recordings, advanced or PC produced pictures indistinct from a real minor, pictures made, adjusted, or altered, yet seem to portray a recognizable, minor. Child Pornography is treated as heinous crime in US and there are several heavy punishment for that. Section 2251 of Title 18 of United States Code states punishment for producing child pornography is from 15 years to 30 years and the offender will also liable to fine. Under Section 2252 of Title 18 of United States Code, transmitting or transporting of child pornography can be punished imprisonment from 5 years to 20 years and like the earlier offence, the offender will be liable to fine.
4.2 CYBER LAWS IN UNITED KINGDOM FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN.
United Kingdom does not have any compendium of laws to protect cyber offences against women.20 One of the most important and widely used act i.e. Malicious Communications Act
1988 is used to protect women from cyber crimes. The objective and the long title of the act
itself states that it is an act to make provisions of persons who send or deliver letters or other articles for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety. This act does not only apply to traditional communication rather now it includes electronic communications too. The act has been amended for the purpose to include cyber crimes against citizens, which definitely includes women. Furthermore, one of the key legislation against cyber crimes in the country i. e. Computer Misuse Act 1990 is made to protect against data modification or stealing. This act penalizes and prohibits the conduct of accessing data stored in a system (computer). Stalking through electronic devices will very well fall under the ambit of the act. It was devised after the Regina 20 Debrati Halder & K. Jaishankar, Cyber Socializing and Victimization of Women, TEMIDA , 22, 22- 23 (2009) .
v Gold and Schifreen case of 1987, in which two hackers remotely accessed BT’s Prestel service at a trade show using the credentials of a BT engineer. 21 There are separate acts for sexual offences. One of the act is Sexual Offences Act 2003. It replaced the old law and is the key legislation under offences against body (sexual). This act prohibits non- consensual voyeurism which basically means that cyber voyeurism is also included under the scope of this act. Offences against children are also mentioned in this act which includes cyber offences too. From section 7 to Section 15, the act talks about offences against child. The offences does include cyber too.
Activities like sexual assault, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing child to watch a sexual act, Arranging or facilitating commission of child sex offence, doing any type of sexual activity, engaging in sexual act in front of a child is an offence under this act. Another Act which deals with harassment is Protection of Harassment Act, 1997. This act is made to protect the citizens from all kind of harassment. Here all kind of harassment means harassment by whatever mode or whatever the source is from. It includes laws against cyber stalking too. Stalking was not in the original law that was passes in 1997. It came when the coalition government amended the act in the year 2012 and made two specific criminal offences regarding the stalking.
A very recent & new development in the British law that have been made in the introduction of Stalking Protection Act, 2019. This is a private member bill which have been introduced in the parliament of United Kingdom. This act deals with specific provisions regarding the stalking and cyber stalking.
5. CURRENT STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS IN INDIA
India being developing country is getting too much exposure if we talk about technological advancement and facilities. India is moving towards its fourth industrial revolution in the IT (Information Technology) sector. In 2016, Reliance launched its 4G SIM cards for free which made millions of people connected through internet. India is set to lead the 4G revolution, the International Data Corporation (IDC).22 But on the contrary we see, there are no such a compendium of laws to deal with cyber offences. The only special law is the IT Act. A 2016 survey on Violence Online in India conducted by the Feminism in India portal on 500 individuals (97% women and 3% trans-genders) found that 58 percent of respondents Jane McCallion, What is the Computer Misuse Act, ITPRO.
(Nov. 22, 2023,11:27PM), https://www. itpro. co. uk/it-legislation/28174/what-is-the-computer-misuse-act. 22 Debashis Sarkar, Reliance Jio: Mukesh Ambani Has Something Major to Announce Today, NEWS18, (Nov. 23, 2023,11:27PM),https://www. news18. com/news/tech/reliance-jio-mukesh-ambani-has-something-major-toannounce-today-1318074. html. confronted some sort of online hostility through savaging, tormenting, abuse or provocation". But 38% of those who faced such violence did not take any action. 23 In 2018, The National Crime Record Bureau provided the data of cyber crimes against women. It revealed that 6,030 cases were registered by women. These cases mainly involve cyber harassing, cyber bullying & cyber stalking. One of the major issues in implementation of current law is lack of awareness of cyber laws.
Most people are not even aware of the fact that they have been harassed, bullied or stalked even if they know they do know that there has been some wrong doing against them, they do not know how lodge complain or proceed further. Superintendent of Police (cyber crimes) G. R. Radhika said that in India 71 crore people are using the gadgets, out of which, 25 crore are females and children. She said 80% of people get trap to cyber crimes and 63% of people don’t know where to proceed further. 24 In India, now Judiciary has also started taking cyber crimes more seriously than in the earlier time. Women & children are considered to be the soft targets of the offenders as they consider it is easy to target them. Statistics very well shows that women and children are more prone to cyber crimes.
The NCRB statistics shows that total 6,532 cases had been filed by women in the year of 2019 against cyber crimes like assault, publishing & transmitting of sexually explicit material, cyber bullying etc. 25 The trends shows that cases which are registered are increasing every year. This shows the law is not implemented very well and has certain loopholes. Similar condition is with cyber offences against children. The NCRB statistics shows that total 47735 cases were registered26 and this number is the double of what was in 2017. This shows how pathetic condition of the implementation of laws is there in the country. Recently in 2019, the government of India took a step to initiate help to women & children who are not able to lodge complain or who do not know the procedure. Ministry of home affairs launched an initiative named Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC).
23 Japleen Pasricha, “Violence” Online In India: Cybercrimes Against Women & Minorities on Social Media, Feminism In India, (Nov. 23, 2023, 11:27PM), https://feminisminindia. com/wpcontent/uploads/2016/05/FII_cyberbullying_report_website. pdf.
24 Staff Reporter, Cyber crimes against women on the rise, THE HINDU, (Nov.23, 2023,11:27PM),
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/cyber-crimes-against-women-on-therise/article32399536.ece. 25 Ministry of Home Affairs, National Crime Record Bureau, Information Technology Act, Case registered & disposal under cyber crimes against women during 2018-2019. 26 Ministry of Home Affairs, National Crime Record Bureau, Information Technology Act, Case registered & disposal under cyber crimes against children during 2019.
CCPWC will consist of online cyber crime platform to report the crime, a forensic laboratory and a capacity building unit. The implementation still needs time as the system needs and overhaul change to do justice with the law in hand.
6. LOOPHOLES IN THE INDIAN LAWS
Certain offences are not included: With the time passing, numerous cyber offences are growing too. Certain harassment such as online verbal abuse which involves sexual explicit content are not included in the definition of 499 and 509 if the Indian Penal Code. Similarly section 66 of the IT act penalizes Hacking but the definition of hacking does not include doxing which is new concept in the cyber crime. Procedural hindrances in dealing with cyber crimes: As discussed earlier cyber crime knows no territorial boundaries. Hence, there have been cases where women and children have been abused from outside the country and there have been procedural hindrances to the victim to access to justice.
The nature of the offence of cyber stalking is global in nature due to which the jurisdiction to investigate becomes a major issue27 No compendium of laws on cyber offences: The only special law that the country has is the Information Technology Act, 2000. The act was passed a long time back and there are several offences which is not included in the act. There are several circumstances in which the act is silent and does not provide punishment. We have already discussed the case of UK and US where there are special laws for almost every cyber offence. Unlike theirs, we lack specialized laws. No proper investigation bodies: In India, there is so specialized agency to deal with cyber offences. The police officers that investigate do not have proper training and there is a lack of infrastructure facility to investigate the offence.
The investigation authorities sometimes fail to take proper evidence28 which ultimately lead to miscarriage of justice. There is a need of proper training and proper infrastructure. 27 Archana Sarma, Cyber Stalking and The Plight of Women in India — A Legal Perspective, 9 RMNLUJ, 190, 189-190, (2017).
28 BILL NELSON, AMELIA PHILLIPS & CHRISTOPHER STEUART, Guide to Computer Forensics and
Investigation 153 (2010).
Social Prejudice: Offences against women and children have always been a social prejudice in our society and so are cyber offences against women and children. The stereotypical thinking of the orthodox Indian is that if anything wrong happens with women or children, then there is a attack on the modesty of women. These types of thinking needs to be changed so that different types of crimes can come forward and the victim can get justice. No Specific law for cyber crimes against children: Just like discussed earlier, there is no any special law which protects children from cyber offences. The two major laws are IT Act and POCSO Act. The increasing trends in cyber crimes deserve special attention. No special laws sometimes cause miscarriage to justice as they are at very delicate age.
Further there is no provision for any rehabilitation for children who has been the victim of heinous sexual offences through online or any electronic mode.
7. SUGGESTION TO FILL THE GAP IN THE CYBER LAWS IN INDIA.
Global Cooperation: There is a need a global cooperation for cyber crimes as sometimes it creates a situation of lack of jurisdiction between countries. At whatever point a stalking happens in the internet, the worker of the electronic gadget utilized for such acts may be situated past the regional locale of India. Hence, it may be feasible to conduct investigation of such cases if it is made mandatory for the service providers such as Facebook, twitter or WhatsApp to install a local server in India. 29 Need for more special law: If we compare USA and UK cyber legal system, we will find huge gap. Since, India is considered to be one the flag bearers of fourth industrial revolution (IT), there is a need of several other special laws such as Information Technology Act.
In US we find that special acts like The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 1984, Megan Meier Cyber Bullying Prevention Act and similarly in UK. Amendments in IT Act for women & Children: It is statistically proven that women and children are soft targets. The categories of online crimes targeting women have expanded and the wave has neither left India alone. 30 Furthermore, the amendment in IT Act in 2008 reduced 29 Archana Sarma, Cyber Stalking and The Plight of Women in India — A Legal Perspective, 9 RMNLUJ, 190, 189-190, (2017).
30 Deepshikha Sharma, Cyber Crimes in India
Are women a soft target, LEGAL SERVICES, (Nov. 23, 2023,11:45PM), http://www. legalserviceindia. com/legal/article-639-cyber-crime-in-india-are-women-a-softtarget. html. punishment for many cyber offences. This shows the intention of the legislature that there are not taking cyber laws seriously. Punishment needs to increase as these offences are heinous in nature. Proper training and infrastructure for investigation agencies: Mishandling of evidences by investigation agencies while investigating cyber crimes are a very common phenomena. There is a need of proper training of the investigation agencies so that they can get introduced with dealing cyber crimes cases. Furthermore, there is a lack of infrastructure and facilities to the agencies to conduct fair investigation. As the cyber crimes advances, investigation methods should also advance accordingly.
Increase conviction rate: India is having a record of poor conviction rate. One of the most important reason can been poor investigation technique. But the conviction record is demanding and increase. Statistics shows that Statistics shows that since 2012, on an average, almost 80 % of the cases results and From 2012 till June 2017, trial in 184 cyber-crime cases got completed, of which there were convictions in 34 cases and acquittals in 150 cases. 31 A very recent development in state of Goa can be found where 80% cases were unsolved from
2018 to 2019.32
8. JUDICIAL APPROACH AND RECENT LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
The judicial system of India has taken cyber crimes against women and children very seriously and time and again came forward towards protecting its citizens. In 2005, Hon’ble High Court of Delhi dealt with one of the first case relating to penal provision of the IT Act. In Avinish Bajaj v State (N.C.T) of Delhi33 , the court made liable the company Bazee.com guilty of transmitting sexually explicit material on their website. In 2003, a land mark case of Ritu Kohli34 came which was one the reasons why Information Technology Act got amended in
2008. The case involved stalking and outraging the modesty of women as the convict made a
fake identity of the victim name. 31 Dattatray Bhagwan Dhainje, Cyber-crime investigations issues and challenges, 5 IJL, 132, 129- 134 (2019).
32 Murari Shetye, Lack of equipment, staff leave 80% cybercrimes unsolved, Times of India, (Nov.24,
2023,12:17AM) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/lack-of-equipment-staff-leave-80-cybercrimesunsolved/articleshow/68193826.cms.
33 Avinish Bajaj v State (N.C.T) of Delhi, 2004 SCC OnLine Del 1160 (India).
34 V.M. Eshwar & Aswathy Rajan, A Critical Analysis on Judicial Activism in Relation to Cyber Law-An Indian Perspective, 119, IJPAM, 1494, 1489-1501 (2018).
The courts have always found a tussle between cyber laws and freedom of speech. The apex court has time and again said that No doubt Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution guarantees complete freedom of speech and expression, but clause (2) of the article also makes an exception in favor of existing law which impose restriction on the exercise of the right in the interest of public decency morality. 35 This section does not go beyond decency which falls directly within the words "public decency or morality in the second clause of the article. Few Years back in 2017, In the case of K. S Puttaswamy v. UOI 36the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India held that right to privacy is a fundamental right and at no cost it can be compromised. The decisions given by in M. P. Sharma37 and Kharak Singh38 were overruled.
The nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court consistently perceived that the Constitution ensured the right to privacy as a characteristic piece of the right to life and individual freedom under Article 2139. The Puttaswamy case opened gates for many cyber laws as if we see one of the major concerns is the privacy of the individuals. The very recent development that took place in state of Kerela, where the state government passed an ordinance on 22 November 2020. The ordinance amended the Kerela Police Act by introducing section 118A. This section makes provision makes any expression, publication or dissemination of threatening, abusive, defamatory or humiliating content made through any mode of communication punishable if the person does it knowing it to be false and damaging to reputation or mind of another person. 40
9. IMPACT OF LOCKDOWN DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
In the last leg of year 2019, the whole world was hit by the pandemic i.e. COVID-19. The government imposed lockdown and the individuals were forced to live inside of their homes. During this time, the screen time of people increased as almost all the works were done through online mode. With the increase of the use of electronic gadgets, there was an increase of cyber
35 35th RatanLal & DhirajLal, The Indian Penal Code (ed. Lexis Nexix 2017).
36 (2017) 10 SCC 1.
37 M.P Sharma and Others v. Satish Chandra, 1954 AIR 300.
38 Kharak Singh v. Union of India, 1963 AIR 1295.
39 Rashi Priya, An analysis of Puttaswamy
The Supreme Court’s Privacy Verdict, THE UNFILTERED JOURNAL, (Nov.24, 2023,02:30PM) https://theunfilteredjournal.com/2023/09/29/k-s-puttaswamyretd-vs-union-of-india/.
40 Lydia Suzanne Thomas, Kerala Governor signs off on ordinance amending Kerala Police Act to combat
defamation, communication of abusive material, BAR & BENCH, (Nov. 24, 2023,02:30PM) https://www. barandbench. com/news/kerala-police-act-amendment-section-118a-online-communicationordinance-governor. crimes against women and children. United Nation Women has also admitted there is a rise in violence against women accompanying the lockdown. The reports of National Commission for Women state that there was a rise in cyber crimes from. In March there were only 37 cyber complaints but after the lockdown was implemented there was a rise in the cases, April saw 54 cyber crimes complaints. COVID-19 pandemic with its expanding dependence on innovation has likewise added to the weakness of ladies and kids against cyber harassment and pushed on instilling a culture of doubt and question to forestall abuse of protection and individual information.
International Justice Mission (IJM) has said that due the holding of online classes children got more prone sexual abuse online because at the very tender age they are getting access of internet and mobile phones. Children often do not understand the difference between right and wrong and they get into the trap of cyber offencders. The statistics shows lockdown influenced the cyber crimes against women and children, the cases is on the rise during normal days but it got increased during the lockdown as people started using cyber devices more often.
10 CONCLUSION
As the time is passing, technology is getting advance and so is the types of cyber crimes. There are numerous types of cyber crimes present in the country and on the globe. To combat these types of crime, the government basically has 3 laws which protects women and children i. e. Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act, Prevention of Child from Sexual Offences. Global perspective states the same picture. Developed countries like UK & US too have special cyber laws to deal with different cyber offences. In India, currently there is rise in cyber crimes throughout the years and there is a need of more special laws to deal with. There is huge gap and loopholes in Indian laws such as poor infrastructure, lack of special laws etc. Indian Judiciary has taken several steps to protect the victims and they have time and again come forward for the rights of individual.
It has also recorded that there is a rise in cyber offences in the lockdown imposed by the government. All these circumstances show that there is still a long road ahead for cyber crimes against women and children.