VOICES FROM  FEMINIST ACTIVISM

Cyber Crime a new form of Violence against Women: From the Case Study of Bangladesh

Maruf Hosen
Abdullah Al-Mamun

Student of Daffodil International University

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Abstract

According to a recent research, the current trend of cybercrime is largely dominated by the crime against the individual. These kinds of crime include cyberstalking, fake Id, nude pictures/videos, email hacking etc. People especially females are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks.   Recently a study shows that so many underaged and minor girls and other female victims committed suicide after their private photos and videos were uploaded on the internet. The paper argues the question is how the diverse concerns of the government match up with the specialized security needs of their female citizens, who are the most vulnerable one. This is the high time to initiate and being vocal against cyber-crime and being more protective on this crime and being aware against this crime as globally this crime is increasing and has become the most sustainable and devastating crime against state, individual, mass and last but not the least mental, socio-cultural and economic stability when the victims are the women.

Keyword

Cyber Crime, Violence, Women, Security, Awareness, Public and Private Intervention, Bangladesh

Introduction:

This paper sets out the key points discussed in the areas of law, media, technology and women’s rights and focusing on the nature and scope of online speech and harassment of women and girls  in  Bangladesh.  The  paper  aimed  to  take stock  of  the  extent  and  types  of  online/cyber violence and harassment against women and girls and its impact on daily lives. The reflections are expected to inform the development of strategies of response by those dealing with such cases.This  paper  further  sheds  light  on  some  other  perspectives  of  revenge  porn,  cyber harassment and  connecting dots of watching pornography among the sixty six students from different Universities of Dhaka, as being an Adjunct Faculty I got the chance to interact in between the students where I used to teach and rest has been collected through peer processes and interconnectivity to initiate a social campaign ‚ Youth Against Revenge Porn as a tool of Pornography and Cyber Crime“. (Check the Annex)

Context:

If we ask anyone what can be an empowering tool and platform for women but at the same time can also be a platform for abuse? It is obvious that the answer will be internet and technology. Violence against women, in general, is not discussed publicly in the name of honor, rather it is considered as a taboo. Within this context, online harassment is the even lesser known topic and most vulnerable area due to lack of knowledge. The interesting fact is day by day we are getting more accustomed to it and again it is all about victim blaming.

Now a day’s social media has become the platform to ensure the ability for communicating with anyone through online in the virtual world. We can indicate, incite, abuse, showoff and harass  complete  strangers  across  the  globe  to  engage  in  frequent,  specific  and  even  pre- motivated violence by lone wolf offender or a group of fundamentalists.

Over just two years, from 2013 and 2015, mobile cellular subscription in Bangladesh increased from 74 to 76 per 100 people1 while the number of internet subscribers reached 56.167 million at the end of January, 2016 .2A high level commitment to creating a ‘digital Bangladesh’, the proliferation of online news portals, and the enormous use of social media has resulted in the rapid spread of online communication.

http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2 http://www.btrc.gov.bd/content/internet-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2016

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Aims

The paper aimed to:

• Reshape the extent and nature of online/cyber violence and harassment in Bangladesh;

• Think about the challenges faced in defining, reporting and responding to such cases;

• Locate good practices in this regard;

• Reflect  on  the  experiences  shared  and  strategies  being  undertaken  to  address  the  issue, including through proposed law reforms.

Method:

1.   Literature Review

2.   Survey

When exactly does a crime become a 'cyber violence’: Does a cyber-attack constitute an act of violence?

This 21st  century’s way of global communication can be used as form of violence against women being a part of technological puppet skillfulness when rouge actors flagrantly wicked to manipulate and abuse particularly vulnerable and minor aged people to act in ways that are harmful to themselves and others all form the feasible zones of the actor’s living space.

From  cyberbullying  to  Gender  violence  including  ISIS  recruitment  has  been  used  to  normalize predatory behavior that would have surprised and shocked our collective morality and judgment even a

decade ago. Cybercrime a new form violence would explore that nexus between cyber violence and

women victims in Bangladesh.

Surprisingly  those  who  work  at  the  institutions,  concerned  departments  as  well  as  along  with  the authorities including for advocacy and campaign are more often very much familiar with the offline issues that women face, i.e. domestic violence but not in a position to broaden the outlook regarding online  harassment,  violence  and  what  could  be  the  effective  measures  to  tackle  it.  The  lack  of information, knowledge, cooperation as well as networking along with the law enforcement agency has made it quite normal to accept, negotiate and manage it through pressure as well as to withdraw the criminal offenses.

Common Forms of Cyber VAWG (Violence Against Women):

• Offensive comments and images online targeting women in general or any particular woman are common.

. • Hate speech is often directed to women who hold particular ideology in terms of politics, religion, gender or are active in public spaces. Increasingly social media has been a site for regulating women's bodies  and  women's  movement.  But  hate  speech  against  women  often  uses  very  particular  and

distinctive language with sexual undertones, including slut shaming, body shaming, the use of terms

like ‘bad women'. It has been a useful tool for trolls to harass women particularly those who are active

either in social media or in outside world so that people can see it.

• A person may take or use pictures of another person without the latter’s consent and share them

on social media or through the net or on mobile messages.

For example, one person's Facebook profile picture was downloaded and then put on a porn website. When  the  woman  found  about  this,  she  reported  it  to  Facebook  and  got  a  response  saying  that  no community rules were being violated. she basically had no recourse. The problem is that anyone's profile picture is open to the public, or sections of it and the user has consented to this. But this consent does not mean that she has consented to use that picture in all circumstances. What actions can be taken against such activity?

• Malicious impersonation occurs where a person uses someone else’s profile picture to open a fake

Facebook account and post different things on Facebook.

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• Revenge Porn is the most effective way of cyber harassment: Could Pornography and obscenity of the mindset of the youth be responsible in this context?

Bangladesh has already a sexually frustrated youth for various reasons, porn gives them that stimulating push on the path towards cyber violence.

‘In 2015-16 there was a rise in the prosecution of child abuse image offenses from 21,580 in 2014-15 to

22,545 (4.5%), including prosecutions commenced for 16,672 offenses of sexual exploitation of children through photographs.  There was a rise in obscenity offenses prosecuted from 5,782 to 6,940 in 2015-

16 (20%).  There were three prosecutions of rape pornography and 206 prosecutions commenced of the offense  of  disclosing  private  sexual  images  without  consent  (so-called  revenge  pornography).  Case studies  within the  (VAWG  -Violence  Against  Women  Globally)  data  annex  of this  report  illustrate

prosecutions of exploitation of vulnerable victims, rape pornography, and offense of disclosing private sexual images without consent.`

The posting of rape videos and photographs on someone’s timeline or sending messages threatening

a  woman  by  giving  an  impression  that  the  same  could  be  done  to  her  is  another  common  form of harassment. This can also be a form of blackmail insisting a woman or girl continue a relationship and

that if she does not do so, such images would be made public.

Cyber violence:From the Perspectives of Threatening Factors

At present the most concerning and burning question is how much safety do we have in a mutual relationship? What could be the consequences if someone shares the intimates moment of his female partner?This  has become one of the sensations of media when one actress broke up with her fiancee and later married someone from the media. The angry fiancee just uploaded the videos of their intimate moments and later due to the objection and legal procedure youtube was forced to delete that video. The actresses could return to her regular workplace but the scratches and defamation through revenge porn never ended, which she faced somehow being brave and determined. In the end, the fiancee fled and left for abroad without facing the criminal charges and her marriage was torn apart But the fact is not everyone is as much luck as like her in reality.

Now the thing is being in a relationship means more about security, safety, and sensibility. The questions about sharing photographs consensually are beyond imagination.Because once the relationship  does  not  work  for  the  privileged  gender's  favor  or  if  it  ends  or  even  it  might continue the demands starts with threating part of sharing nude photos and revenge porn.

Once again, the society intervenes where women are not allowed to speak due to the taboos in the name of so-called honor and family matter, and victim blaming and shaming starts with the phrases „ Slut‘, shameless woman for having intimate relationships before marriage. But the fact is even the married women are not safe as well in this context.

Now  the  point  is  how  do  we  define  about  consensus,  consent,  permission  and  how  it  is accepted.There are  many cases have been found that lot many female students who tried to file a complaint either they faced accusations from the institutions or from the police.In the end, it is all about women being the culprit and the only one to be blamed.

Even though the High court gave the protection it is sort of preconceived notion that if she allows someone to take nude photos of her she must be allowing him to distribute it as well.In the end, the some of the cases become quite similar to the Korean movie „ Phone".

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The thing is we do need to change the perception about consent which is not meant to be for all types of actions but must have a separate criterion to be regarded and it is obvious that has not been considered to realize it properly.

`Once again we need to reconceptualize the definition about stigma and gender which is one of the crucial reasons where single, married, divorced women do not come forward to take action against this

increasing and alarming crime at this moment.Again it is the lack of coordinator from the perspectives

of judgment, ideas as well as from the legal and health workers. We are just confined to our own ideas but that just refers to the goodness and badness. Social and cultural context is more concerned about subjective  explanation  rather  than  focusing  on  objectivity  which  is  surrounded  by  the  conservative environment.We  just  prefer  to  encircle  the  women  within  the  barriers  and  limitations  rather  than breaking the glass ceiling.

Assessing the risk factors in Bangladesh from the perspectives of victims

The common example of most of the incidents in the rural areas is, where a young man videotaped a girl while she was taking bath and then started to blackmail her. The girl went to one of gender-based partner organizations and they took her to police who asked her to make a general diary (GD). After that, the police arrested the boy and got a signed bond from him stating that he would not harass the girl anymore. They also made him delete the video from his phone. However, some teachers of his college assisted him to secure release on bail. This is one instance where a girl raised her voice, but there are so many others who cannot share their problems with anyone. The blackmailing may be so extreme that a girl commits suicide. There are many examples of abuse of girls through Facebook. For instance, a girl may accept a friend request coming from a stranger. After some time, a kind of friendship or relationship develops between the two through chatting. The blackmail starts when one of them plays on or exploits these emotions and feelings. In the beginning, the girl does not realize the consequence of entering into a relationship with a stranger. When this happens, in most cases the girl doesn't know what to do and where to go. Some girls don't want to seek help from law enforcing agencies because of the resulting social stigma. Even lawyers don't know what needs to be done and how to ensure the protection of women and girls in such cases.

Another interesting fact that has been observed as well, that the female mobile users do not have any protection mechanism as well as not being aware do repair their mobile without security check and their vulnerability and threatening parts become crucial as well through those shop owners, repair persons, especially  who  are  living  in  the  remote  areas  as  well  as  the  students  in  the  city based  universities, colleges, and coaching centers as well.

Lot many rape cases had been reported through threatening factors of mobile video footages and cyber distribution.s One of the cases just shook the school going girls and their parents, where one faculty raped a student for a long period of time while threatening her to expose all the videos on the internet and that case is related with one of the reputed school of Dhaka.

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To  combat  the  inexorable  growth  in  cybercrime  in  Bangladesh  and  Comprehensive

Strategies

According to the report of BLAST (Bangladesh Legal Aid Services and Trust)

‘From 28.07.2013 to 10.02.2016, there were 520 cases in Cyber Crime Tribunal where a number of female  victims  were  90. Three hundred and  28 cases were disposed of out  of 520  cases during the

mentioned period.`

The most important thing that we must need to review is about „ Digital Literacy „ as well as preventive measures through awareness campaign at the root level.These days number of people can afford digital devices and do have accessibility on the internet which mostly covers Facebook. However, people are still now not that much well informed about digital literacy and that must be regarded with proper action and requirements.In Bangladesh, till now people perceive Facebook as the internet where they are not well informed and aware of the privacy settings and security because of a language barrier which has been mostly written in English.This context must be regarded as one of the important issues due to the safety and security as well as awareness through digital literacy.

The other important factor must not be ignored and that is, while this awareness could be managed at the urban areas as well as in the educational institutions but the question remains what could be done at the  remote  and  rural  areas?What  could  be  the  action  to  be  taken  where  people  do  have  little understanding of digital literacy?

The interesting observation shows that through the online based platforms, as being one of the popular apps  entitled  with  „  Maya  Apa‘  launched  by  one  of  the  leading  NGOs  BRAC(Bangladesh  Rural Advancement  Committee),  having  a  female  name  and  online  affiliation  received  so  many  explicit comments, confession by the perpetrators and abusers including indecent proposals. Which shows that even an identical online female figure would not be spared.

The existing laws in Bangladesh under which a victim can seek remedies are as follows:

Section  57  of  the  Information  Communication  Technology  Act  2006  penalizes  publishing fake, obscene  or  defamatory  information  in  electronic  form.  The  Act  covers  both  men  and  women.  The punishment under this is a maximum fine of taka one crore and a maximum jail sentence of 14 years.

Section 500 of the BPC 1860 imposes a penalty for defaming any person.

Section 8 of the Pornography Control Act, 2012 penalizes the acts of manufacturing or agreeing to supply participants for the purpose of producing pornography, or forcing any person to participate in the

production of pornography. This is a non-bailable offense. The offense is punishable by a maximum of

5  years  imprisonment  and  a  fine  of  two  lakh  taka.  In  addition  production  of  pornography  is  also punishable by a maximum of 7 years imprisonment and a fine of two lakh taka.

Section 69 of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Control Act, 2001 penalizes the sending of any obscene or indecent message.

Section 10 of the Nari O Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain 2000 penalizes ‘sexual oppression' including any indecent gesture, while Section 14 penalizes the publication in the media of the identity of a victim of any offense under the Act.

Section 76 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976 penalises any person who wilfully and indecently exposes his person in any street or public place within sight of, and in such manner as may

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be  seen  by,  any  woman,  whether  from  within  any  house  or  building  or  not,  or  wilfully  presses  or obstructs any woman in a street or public

The drafting of the Cyber Security Act 2015 is underway. This provides punishment for cybercrimes. However, the Draft Act is being criticised for including draconian provisions, including a maximum 20- year sentence for 'cyber-terrorism' and allowing for the arrest of the suspects without a warrant including persons abroad.

In its 2009 judgment in BNWLA v. Government of Bangladesh, the High Court defined “sexual harassment"  in  the  workplace  and  educational  institutions  in  both  the  public  and  private  sectors  to include certain forms of online speech. There are 11 directives under this judgment. In the absence of a statute being enacted by parliament, these directives are binding on everyone.

The interesting fact is now cyber criminal law procedure is more concerned about the defamation of the prime minister and the president rather than protecting the women.The most of the cases and charges have been decentralized and based in Dhaka rather having an effective mobile court in the remote, rural areas and suburban.

In most cases, victims do not want to go to the police who may be reluctant to take up such cases; in such cases, a reference to the HC directives on sexual harassment and existing laws may be helpful. in most cases, women, whether married or unmarried, do not seek legal support due to lojja (shame) and/or fear of further harassment by the police.

Referred by a recent RTI(Right To Information) by BLAST, which found that less than 5% of cases filed under the ICT relates to complaints of harassment by women. In some instances, cases are filed under Pornography Act. The fact that so few people are seeking remedies is indicated by the fact that none of the participants, who include women active in addressing vaw, have ever had to deal with such a case going to court.

When we are discussing the penal code of 1860, which is more than 150 years old, where the latest version of law could replace the year 2000 to tackle the online harassment, and allow the use of online devices  being  more  specific.  We  just  need  to  revise  the  applicable  regulatory  framework  through consultation along with the BTRC (Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) which is more powerful to control any website, explicit contents or online based websites. We need to discuss with the mobile service providers as well as net providers to form a comprehensive framework. It is urgent to form particular online based platforms for filing complaints and must have direct access. Once again whether we like it or not we do need to have greater global cooperation as cybersecurity does not have any boundaries.

There are measures one can take once an unwanted photo is circulated online. Online service providers like Google and Facebook are more amenable to maintaining copyright laws rather than entertaining complaints of abuse. Therefore, in cases where a person's photo that they took themselves and published online  is  used  elsewhere,  a  complaint  can  be  filed  with  Google  and  Facebook  under  the  Digital Millennium Copyright Act (as both these companies are registered in the US) and they can be requested to take down the photos. The point being, that there needs to be greater awareness of all kinds of tools to protect yourself, including but not limited to criminal law

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Bangladesh  and  South  Asia  at  Article  19  outlined  key  international  human  rights  laws  that  protect freedom of expression, focusing particularly on the threats faced by women journalists. The organization receives lots of complaints about discrimination against women journalists, as well as about censorship, particularly online censorship. When women journalists do well at the district level they face a lot of talk about their characters, but the most common method of stopping a woman's progress is through online comments

Conclusion and Way Forward:

In surveys with students conducted formally and informally, many examples of such online harassment and abuse were identified. After inviting students in the class to participate in the survey to start an initiative against revenge porn and cyber harassment interlinked with pornography habituated mentality, I received intense and diverse accounts. It turned out from these that too often the perpetrators are not necessarily strangers, but friends, meaning that violence can be perpetrated by someone we know, none of us is safe and anybody can be a perpetrator

Coordination through:

        Public-private partnerships; Awareness is very important regarding the fact that this is common

and more importantly that this is not the woman’s or girl’s fault. This is not the end of her life.

        In technical assistance; and Digital Literacy

        Through the law enforcement cooperation;

These are just three important examples of the collaboration and coordination that is required on cyber violence issues.

However,  it  is  also  important  to  consider  less  traditional  approaches  to  collaboration  (for  example,

involving non- governmental stakeholders in conventionally governmental processes).

We need to ensure digital literacy including by providing an information package in Bangla for women’s rights groups and the public at large on privacy settings and security measures, and courses on digital literacy at school and university level.

We  have  to  hold  more  discussions on  online  speech and  expression  and its  possibilities and limits, including on cyber-crimes, successful examples of dealing with such incidents, as well as positive stories of addressing issues of pleasure and sexuality as well as do need to consult along with the teachers, responsible authorities and parents.

We must undertake legal research on the application of existing laws enabling online expression, and on addressing cyber violence, and examine comparative experience and have to disseminate among the

potential stakeholders

We do require to undertake legal research on the admissibility and use of electronic evidence, including under the Evidence Act 1872, and special laws where we could insert more information and resources.

We should Call for public consultation on the Draft Cyber Crimes Act, and the draft Digital Security

Act to enhance cooperation between the government and the representatives from different sectors of academia, civil society, youth led organizations, legal aid based organizations, cybercrime specialists, law enforcement agency as advocacy and voluntary services based initiatives to be addressed.

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Annex:

The below-mentioned survey had been conducted by me and it is based on the assessment between the Dhaka based public and private educational institutions and its students regarding their perceptions on Pornography  and  cybercrime  and  this  had  been  conducted  among  sixty-six  participants.  Here, Jahangirnagar University is one of the leading public Universities and rest of the Universities students are from North-South, which is one of the leading private Universities in Bangladesh as well as the students from National Universities and also other universities students who study outside of Dhaka participated in this survey.

While  asking  the  students  “Do  you  think  Pornography  encourage  rape  and  violence against women“?

a)        Yes b)        No

1.   1If yes, how it is?

1.2.             If no, why not?

Pronography encourage rape & violence

Female       Male

No

50%

50%

Yes

45%

55%

The  table  shows  that  55%  male  and  45%  female  say  ‘Yes'  that  pornography  encourages  rape  and violence against women, on the other hand, 50% male and 50% female say ‘No' on this issue.

When I asked them‚ Do you think technology has made its access easier?

a)        Yes b)        No

If Yes, how it is? If. No, why not?

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Technology has made it's access more easier

53.4%

46.6%

Male       Female

66.7%

33.3%

75%

25%

Yes                                                          No                                                 No comments

We  have  observed  that  53.4%  male  and  46.6%  responded  with  yes  and  majority  of  the participants responded who are the male responded with no comments, on the other hand while we asked about no option 66.7% male responded and 33.3% female responded with no and interesting fact is 25 % female responded with no comments.

One of the questions was based on whether they do think technology has made its access easier? If Yes, how it is?

Majority of  the  respondents  both  from Jahngir  Nagar  University(31)  and  other Univeristies (6)responded that  porn is  available especially to the young generation by net, Fb, and social site,  negative  effect  of  uncontrolled  globalization,  can  easily access  porno  site,  facilities  to follow these type of western culture, enjoy it from internet, available in YouTube and other

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site,11  persons  from  Jahangirnagar  respondedand  2  from  other  Univerities  responded  „No binding to watch porncan fulfill his or her demand, cheaply available, 5 from Jahangirnagar and

3 from other Universities responded  Internet has free porn, large scale of people now has access to vulgar videos.Only 1 responded with no comments

Interesting observations are:

1.         Available in internet, YouTube & social site

2.         No binding to watch porn

3.         Internet has free porn

While asking the students what could be the best punishment for revenge porn, personal porn video, and availability to the below 18 age?

Majority of the respondents from both the sides raised voices against revenge porn and supported the idea of compensation and jail terms and meanwhile below 18 age persons must be sent to the correction center. The perception regarding uploaders was to fine up to

500000 maximum and 15 years of jail term could be the highest punishment and that was supported by the  other  universities  students  as  well.    One  person  showed  particular  interest  regarding  religious

teaching and one did not show any interest to make any comments from Jahangirnagar University.

Revenge porn= at least 7 years, not more than 10 years. This is the most damaging kind. Personal porn video= not clear rate enough to answer

Availability to the below 18 age = 6 months to 3 years

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Best  punishment  for  revenge  and  personal  porn  is  taking  huge  amount  of  money  as compensation and they should be taken to the rehab and below 18 age should be taken to the rehab and family should be monitoring

There should be the highest level of punishment.Some other perspectives as well have been shared.

A strict ICT act  to formulate, long time mental torturing in other institution, not jail

Stop the darkness or bad side of pornography,

i)Firstly family must care about it;

ii) Secondly, our IT sector should take step to impose restriction,

iii)Thirdly below18 to become aware from the family and to send them to rehab

While discussing about the punishments some of the interesting answers  were related with, Public shaming and boycotting the culprits, at least 10 years’ jail, below 18 should be given punishment like jail class, Counseling may be good for them, Cybercrime should be   punished through  strict  laws  and  the  persons  who  are  engaged  should  be  given  punishment,needful constitutional amendment against it and if possible to try to stop it,Punishment according to religion.Death sentence and banning had been discussed as well and one of the opinion regarded the  part  of  crime  degree  and  exemplary punishment  as  well  as  stated  that  the  Government should raise awareness.

References:

Peterson J,  Densley J. Aggress.  Violent  Behaviour. 2017;  34:  193-200)  Copyright  ©  2017,  Elsevier

Publishing.

Report of Expert Consultation “Responding to Violence against Women and Girls in the Cyber Age“, By Bangladesh Legal Aid Services and Trust,18 February 2016, https://www.blast.org.bd/ http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.CEL.SETS.P2

http://www.btrc.gov.bd/content/internet-subscribers-bangladesh-january-2016

http://www.svri.org http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/cps_vawg_report_2016.pdf https://www.internetsociety.org/chapters/

https://icspa.org/

http://www.thedailystar.net/law-our-rights/cyber-crimes-70592 http://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/digital-sexual-harassment-digital-bangladesh-82480

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