Types of cybercrime that are committed against women Essay

Cyber crime is a global trend. With the initiation of technology, cyber crime and victimization of women are on the high and it poses as a major threat to the security of a person as a whole. Even though India is one of the very few countries to enact IT Act 2000 to combat cyber crimes, issues regarding women still remain untouched in this Act. The said Act has termed certain offences as hacking, publishing of obscene materials in the net, tampering the data as punishable offences. But the grave threat to the security of women in general is not covered fully by this Act.

Indian women at risk in the cyber space

Estimated more than 60% harassment against women started from the online chatting and emails

India stands 3rd in terms on using the online world.

three forth of Indias population is below 35 years

Most of the people in India enter cyber world through mobile phones.

TYPES OF CYBER CRIME THAT ARE COMMITTED AGAINST WOMEN

Cyber harassment/Harassment via emails

Cyberstalking.

Cyber pornography.

Defamation.

Morphing.

Email spoofing.

Harassment through emails is not a new concept. It is very similar to harassing through letters. Harassment includes blackmailing, threatening, bullying, and even cheating via email. Eharassments are similar to the letter harassment but creates problem quite often when posted from fake ids.

Cyber stalking is one of the most talked about net crimes in the modern world. The Oxford dictionary defines stalking as "pursuing stealthily". Cyber stalking involves following a person's movements across the Internet by posting messages (sometimes threatening) on the bulletin boards frequented by the victim, entering the chatrooms frequented by the victim, constantly bombarding the victim with emails etc. Cyber Stalking usually occurs with women, who are stalked by men, or children who are stalked by adult predators or paedophiles. Typically, the cyber stalker's victim is new on the web, and inexperienced with the rules of netiquette & Internet safety. Their main targets are the mostly females, children, emotionally weak or unstable, etc.

It is believed that Over 75% of the victims are female. The motives behind cyber stalking have been divided in to four reasons,

for sexual harassment,

for obsession for love,

for revenge and hate and

for ego and power trips.

Cyber stalkers target and harass their victims via websites, chat rooms, discussion forums, open publishing websites (e.g. blogs and Indy media) and email. The availability of free email and website space, as well as the anonymity provided by these chat rooms and forums, has contributed to the increase of cyber stalking as a form of harassment.

There are a couple of reported cases, which discuss about the position of the cyber stalking in India. The recent being

Ritu kohli case, 2005

In another case, an engineering and management graduate, facing prosecution in a dowry harassment case, was arrested by Delhi police for sending obscene emails in his wifes name to several persons. In