Mumbai: The internet has its uses, but when it comes to sexual offences, it can be a potent adversary too.
Priti Patnaik, who runs the non-governmental organisation Prerna, said technology -- like the internet and smartphones -- are fast becoming a major part of our lives and per se, was not a bad thing. However, the scope for misuse, particularly through platforms like Facebook and Instagram, was huge. Twice a year, Prerna invites recommendations from children at its shelter on the facilities they would provide had they been running one.
Five years ago, one of the recommendations was that they would provide a basic-model cell phone to all girls who completed Class X. In the same survey a couple of months ago, one of the recommendations was to provide a smartphone to all girls above the age of eight years, Ms. Patnaik said. And this may precisely be where the risk lies. Ms. Patnaik was part of a discussion at the Nehru Centre on Thursday on the effect of the rapid development of the internet, particularly with respect to sexual offences against women.
Moderated by Adrian Phillips, director with non profit organisation Justice and Care, the discussion witnessed participation by Monique Villa, Chief Executive Officer of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, social worker Priti Patkar, who co-founded Prerna and Shweta Katti of NGO Kranti, who grew up in Kamathipura and now works for the upliftment of children of commercial sex workers.
Ms. Katti said, “I grew up in a tense environment, and when I first got on to social media, I realised that the approval, or appreciation that I garnered for my social media posts was becoming important for me.
“It is this need for approval that predators feed on. I once worked with a very young girl who was very active on social media, and would affectionately say, ‘I love you’ to everyone without realising its implications.”
Ms. Villa touched upon the use of internet for sex trafficking and ‘sextortion’, a form of extortion which involves demanding sexual favours rather than money, that is rampant in the West. “Typically, sextortion includes befriending a woman, and after luring her into a sense of comfort, convincing her to send intimate pictures. Once the predator has these pictures, he makes the victim send more and more intimate content, and this has led to a large number of suicides.”
Talking about the ways to deal with sextortion and other such crimes, Ms. Patnaik said, “It is important to remember to never delete any data. According to a recent amendment to the Indian Evidence Act, emails and screenshots are now permissible as evidence in crimes. There needs to be awareness about this so that those who fall prey to such offenders know their options.”
Published - April 13, 2018 01:10 am IST