Centre for Cyber Victim Counseling (CCVC): A committed organization to help Cyber Crime Victims

CYBER CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

It had been eight long months since we started Centre for “Cyber Victims Counseling” (CCVC). I felt this is the right time to write a few words about this brain child of ours……me and my husband. We are basically a “Trust”, an all voluntary not for profit NGO with social service agenda, working towards betterment of cyber space. Our primary concern is Indian cyber space. Being a lawyer myself, I felt this is the best way I could contribute to my country and countrymen. Indian cyber space has become more secured than before due to several organizations and individuals who are working on cyber crime issues since couple of years. On behalf of CCVC, we are proud to follow their footsteps.   

 When we conceived the idea of CCVC, I never knew there would be so many responses. Many contacted us for different sorts of help and guidance from within the country as well as outside the country. We in CCVC are thankful to all of you who consider us “worthy friends” to tell your problems. While we were building CCVC, we received many criticisms too. We consider them as treasures in disguise. Feedbacks, guidance and criticisms make CCVC stronger to help the victims, individuals, students and the researchers as well. We are growing in handling each experience of yours. I take this opportunity to thank Jayne Hitchcock, whom I consider as my mentor. I got to learn basic cyber ethics from her. WHOA and Hitchcock were our “motivators” behind starting CCVC.

I know, healing a patient with physical pain is a tough job. But healing a victim of cyber attack is neither an easy task. The pain one goes through remains for long, some times for life. Besides providing counseling to cyber crime victims, what satisfies me more is the blogs I run as a part of CCVC’s activities. These blogs creates awareness about cyber crimes and victimisation. I would be extremely happy to help all who need to know about cyber crime and laws . In the CCVC, we are planning for more activities in the coming months. Do keep an eye on CCVC’c blogs @ http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/ and http://debaraticyberspace.blogspot.com/ to know about our further plans and activities.

CYBER HARASSING WOMEN: THE SAGA CONTINUES FOR INDIAN FEMALE CINE STARS

CYBER CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

Aishwarya Rai continues to be my dream actress since the day she appeared in the Indian cinemas for the first time. I have a chosen league of movie stars, television actors and media entertainment personalities whom I love to watch on the TV screen as well as in real life. Believe me, I was equally fascinated as well as shocked when I found them in the interent. I was fascinated because Facebook and Orkut helped me to connect with them, see their very private self. I was shocked because when I Google searched their names I got to see ugly sides of their public life. I know, there are thousands of “FANS’ like me who continuously lookout for new developments in their matinee idol’s lives. But there are “fans” who love to cherish these poor human beings in other ways. I saw Aishwarya’s "not wanted" pictures in some “Hot sites”. Others were also not spared,  Katrina, Ceilina Jeitly, Raima Sen …….to name a few. Go for name searching in Orkut or Facebook and you will find umpteen numbers of good, bad, worst and even worser sites depicting female actors in unwanted ways. Cyber tactics are responsible for this. Most of the ‘hot pictures’ some one gets to see of these actors are doctored pictures .Some victims get to know this to their utter shock and , some feel the best way to reduce the menace is to avoid and ignore the paparazzi. But the problem is not limited to sexual depiction only. There are sites to hate them ,there are sites made *with* these poor human beings to show women from all walks of life what mutilation of virtual life could be, and there are people who love to let other know “see this woman of silver screen can beg for virtue”. Stalking, spreading bad gossips, threatening and blackmailing with already available pictures of these actors by cyber assistance have become a cake walk for perpetrators. What amuses me more is these women are even not spared when they want to network with their friends and family through social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace. Way back, I came across such impersonated profiles of leading TV stars which promised to give a “good time” once chatting session starts. My own cousin being in the film fraternity, I know personally how these poor victims of cyber crime can react.

The question is who does it and why it is done? One truth which surprises me is, the perpetrator could generally be a die hard fan who wants to come in touch with the actor by hook or crook. Again, doing pornography business with already available avatars of “wanted” faces is off course a lucrative venture…….well, once the technology works for the entrepreneur, there is no need to hire real life “models” .Ex spouses also fill the fuel sometimes.

When a fraction of these cases get reported, most of the time, more than the police, media investigates the issue and these piles up the humiliation. Imagine when the victim is an upcoming star having a good academic background (especially those who have chosen profession in media and entertainment leaving conventional job offers) and an erudite family and friend circle to lie upon, what psychological stress her peers could go through, leave her own mental state of affairs. No doubt, many times such types of cases are registered faster and given good priority for the name sake. But that does not solve the problem always. A personal meeting with the ‘heart throb’ and ‘promises’ to remove the links may end the case before the Judiciary gets the chance to experiment the case with newly formed protective laws. The story does not end here, this sets an example for other die hard fans to find out better ways to interact with the chosen actors. 

Does any one care that this adds up to cyber harassments and the law remains mute spectator?

Defaming women in the Indian cyber space; does anybody bother about penal laws?

CYBER CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

When I was a new internet user, I loved to experiment with my virtual avatar by befriending one and all. I never used to think this may bring unwanted “danger” or “perpetual nuisance”. At first, it was hotmail where I created an account and way back in 2004/5 , my email was the only identity for me in the cyber space. There were no social networking and no online chatting options available to me other than the yahoo messenger which I used to talk to my sister who stays over seas. Well, I had very limited knowledge about networking then. But slowly internet addicted me. I became quite a darling to internet predators who invaded my yahoo id…..I started getting funny mail messages and I sometimes ignored them, sometimes answered very foolishly. But, “they” never crossed their limits. In a way, probably these “senders” understood that I am not a good dish either for them or for the purpose of serving to others as I never shared any of my pictures or informations online and I was never interested in “intimate chattings”. But never mind, I won’t lie….. Sometimes, I loved those pranky messages. In no time, I was introduced to social networking and I used to hit the sites at least twice a day. I found a new world altogether. This time also, I never minded to choose friends randomly whoever peeped in. I felt quite comfortable to share my informations this time, as I believed, most of them out there are telling the truth. But yes, by the third month, I understood why it is called the “vicious net”. I saw quite a lot of groups or communities making fun of women…………..ordinary individuals as well as celeb women. I was not surprised when I saw some filthy comments in my own scrap book too. I knew it was time for me to close doors to unknown visitors. I did exactly that. But I still I cant accept when I see people making fun of women in the internet. Sadly, Indian women are humiliated by their counterparts not only in the real world, but in the “unreal world” too. It has become quite a fashion to use the computer keyboard to undress a woman and tell a tale about her to others. Remember “pen is mightier than sword” theory? Some “nuts” execute the theory in a digital fashion in most unwanted way.
But hey, come’ on. We have a strict law against it. The Indian Information Technology Act 2008 voices the concern .Remember, if some one wants to defame the woman online with false “stories” (enough to make the victim “annoyed” and the recipient “confused”) and sends it to a huge audience for cherishing the “gossip”, Section 66A will promptly sentence him/her for imprisonment which may extend to two to three years; If the perpetrator prefers to put on filthy “lascivious” words and pictures of his victim/s by doctoring her/their picture, then section 67 awaits for you with imprisonment sentences which may lock you in for two to three years; if the perpetrator wants to make the victim “ashamed”, “disgusted” or “traumatized” by publishing compromising pictures where he claims to accompany his victim, no matter what, be prepared to be “in” for minimum five years under section 67 A. Perpetrator, you may not be allowed to move freely because if section 67A tames you, there may not be any bail. And, do not forget the monetary fines along with imprisoning sentences. Your bank balance may become NIL . Ohhhh..wait.. Indian Penal code will play a foremost role to book the perpetrator under several strong sentences too; sections 500,501 and 509 will be the foremost of them when the question involves defamation and ruining the modesty of the woman. Section 292 A also awaits to be “employed” in, if the perpetrator plans to circulate doctored pictures, pictures of intimate moments or ‘please keep secret’ stuff to blackmail his victim.

So, next time if you want to hurt a woman in the most chosen mischievous fashion, remember, it is no more a “child’s play”.

AN APPEAL TO ALL

THIS IS A FORWARD FROM OUR SISTER BLOG @http://cybervictims.blogspot.com/

WE AT CCVC HAVE STARTED 2010 WITH A CAUSE.THE POPULAR SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE ORKUT.COM IS BEING USED BY MANY TO CREATE FAKE PROFILES AND COMMUNITIES WHICH ARE DEFAMING , DEMEANING AND SOME TIMES CARRIES SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENTS. THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE IS NOT RESPONDED WELL BY ORKUT. AS PER THE INDIAN LEGAL STANDARD, SUCH PROFILES AND COMMUNITIES ARE ILLEGAL. BUT UNFORTUNATELY SINCE ORKUT IS GUIDED NOT BY INDIAN LAWS BUT BY UNIVERSAL POLICY GUIDELINES OF ITS OWN (WHICH IS MADE ON THE BASIS OF US FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION), MANY TIMES INNOCENT VICTIMS HAVE BEEN REFUSED ANY POSITIVE HELP. HENCE WE HAVE FILED AN ONLINE PETITION. THE URL IS http://www.petitiononline.com/ccvc123/petition.html. IF U HAPPEN TO READ THIS BLOG, PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION BOTH IN THIS LINK AS WELL AS IN CCVC'S WEBSITE. WE ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR KIND RESPONSE.
THANK U
DEBARATI
JAISHANKAR

Telephonic eve teasing: Then and now

Recently I was writing an article on Sexting. My subjects were children, but I felt very strange when I finished the whole article .I remembered we , the older generation electronic stuff users ( when compared to these Digi-kids), also faced quite the similar situations when we were young adults.Ten or fifteen years back, we didn't have such huge popularity and usage of mobile phones in India, but we did have regular prank calls in our land lines to remind us that we are WOMEN.And how did it happen? I remember, exactly fifteen years back from today , there was a regular caller to our number who loved to hear our voice. He never got discouraged by daddy's warning,complete silence from our side , or even grandma's old voice. Some how he knew this number belongs to a family who have girls. At the beginning, the caller used to make frantic experiments with his romantic dialogues to befriend me and my sister. Slowly he changed his ways. He started telling how beautiful we are ( ahem... we were pretty healthy and foody , but the caller kept on insisting that we are "beautiful"... enough to make self conscious teens fall for unknown "boy friends" isn't it?) , how sweet we look when we wear the particular shade of pink etc etc...Now, my family being headed by a police chief dad, we were told these are nothing but "disturbing calls" and we should not answer them.Well, we learnt this practical way of what is "eve teasing" and what is "stalking". But things didnt go so smoothly either. One night, after his usual dialogue, the caller suddenly started describing his physic. This was it... As usual, we hung up the receiver for the whole night , but some thing told me and my sister , lets hear today what he is upto.... He did describe himself as a very charming handsome muscleman who can "satisfy any woman"( "satisfy?" we were pretty surprised... innocence you call?).Well, we heard , didn't say anything. But next night he came up with an unusual proposal... how about experiencing some "real hot stuff" over phone? As usual, we silently heard his "ideas". Indeed the caller was a young adult himself who didn't have any such practical sexual experiences , but hey come on, he heard a girl's voice the very first day in this number and planned to "experiment"with his newly acquired "manhood".He told us how he would love to take us to honeymoon to some beach resort and do "all those stuff that married men do".Our instinct told this is not normal. We told the whole incidence to our dad and since the very next night , our "watch man" disappeared.
When we discussed these "funny episodes" with our cousin and friends, they came up with similar stories. Some experiences were very funny, some were really scary, some made the girls to plead their parents to change the phone numbers. As a grown up woman, I now understand that we too had been victims of telephonic eve teasing. Well, those "disturbances" in our times were not so alarming as it is now. We didn't have the open access to internet to immediately publicize the phone number or the residential address to which this number is allotted.But now these "night calls" remain no more "amusing" even if it is done in the land lines. You never know how your silence after a simple "hello" can make you a victim.Well, You are asking about my suggestion ? Hang on.. because I still get such prank calls and I promptly switch off the phone if I get to see the number is "unknown".But as I always say.. ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN"

FOR SALE : A WOMAN OF YOUR CHOICE

http://www.cybervictims.edu.tf/

"Forced prostitution" ....... something no woman wants to do but circumstances make her to do  , has become a dreadful reality in today's digital era. A woman's sexuality can be used ( readers please read it as "misuse") in various ways for gain . In this internet era the easiest way to business with women is to upload the real life informations about the woman in target and "exhibit her " for availability for dating, dirty talks and even have her for a night or two. The women are mostly handpicked by men or even women who feel they have been badly hurt by their "targets" and this is the best way to show them that “I can also ruin your life in a better way ". The "target" all of a sudden gets call either in her mobile phone or home phone asking for her "services”. Some even drop at her door step to "have a deal on first come first serve basis". Well, the woman is taken by surprise, her family feels disgusted, friends line up to console her but none really know exactly how the poor woman turned into a virtual "most wanted sexy babe". But a little research on the history of the case may reveal this was but inevitable ............ perhaps her mobile number was displayed in her social networking site or she may have generously distributed her personal number among one and all; similarly, it wont be surprising if her picture is captured from her chosen sites, or her home address was displayed in the internet; the issue becomes more grave if the harasser knows the victim personally offline. The effect could be instant stigma to the woman in question. Even though she may not have any cyber inclination other than just seeing her emails, she may be forced to have a look at these ugly sites against her wishes. But it will be surprising to note that it is not the pornographic or adult dating sites only which are used to victimize the woman ; even good social networking sits are also used to “display” her .Fake profiles may be created about her and enormous “advertisements” about her may do the needful.

Indian cyber audience has witnessed nasty things like this not so long ago and it is increasing in number. While in the west, many of such incidences are immediately reported, Indian mindset makes the woman in question feel traumatized, guilty and ashamed of her self. The situation may need her to cancel her phone number or even change her residential address or constant police protection. But in most cases, these options look tedious and the victim prefers to be as she is …………. silently bearing the brunt, waiting patiently to let the “craze” die down automatically. But one must understand that the poor victim can not be dragged deeper in side the scandalous pool due to mischievous misuse of the cyber space by irresponsible individuals. Some simple precautions like not displaying personal numbers or addresses in the public sites etc   may go a long way to save women from these perfidious incidents. But ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN. The best way to prevent such unwanted incidences could be to prevent one’s too much self exposition for “fun” in the internet and at the same time putting a STOP to the usage of internet for taking revenges. Remember, the law never leaves individual revenge takers, no matter whether he does it in the traditional offline way of hurting the victim in person or by using the electronic and digital medium to damage the victim’s reputation and thereafter attacking her in person.  

ONLINE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: THE LAWYER SPEAKS

I DEDICATE THIS BLOG TO ALL THOSE ABUSED WOMEN WHOSE EX SPOUSES TAKE INTERNET AS A BATTLING GROUND

Couple of months back there were some flash news of online domestic violence : as how spouses take it to the internet to make it a big fight. Most of these spouses are separated but the bitterness still lingers on. Women in the internet are now poor victims of spousal violence which has a grater effect than online harassment. How does the ex-husband target the woman? I was reading some articles on cyber psychology which were published in 2000-01. I got to know that these spouses keep on stalking the ex wives.The email ids are first targets as these men would probably know very well which was the most used email id of their victim/s.In most cases, the abusive spouse would keep on leaving *disturbing* messages in her email inbox , just to provoke her to appear in the verbal duel online.Once the victim looses her patience , the harasser wins and then starts the battle of words. in extreme cases , the abuser even starts posting his victim's pictures and informations for getting more abusive comments from this big bad internet world.The abuser also starts to defame the victim by reaching her friends and leaving filthy messages about her. The game continues even in the social networking websites also. Well.. some times it becomes nothing but beating the bush as women prefer to hide under different screen names in the social networking websites.But this generally doesn't demotivate the abusive ex spouse to search thousands of namesakes of his victim and finally he gets it .. or rather her.. Abusing ex wives is more easy in the social networking websites as the huge audience gets a live news feed when the abuser posts any ugly message about the victim either in her own message box or in other individual's message box.The victim is harassed, defamed and publicly insulted. She may even go for deep traumatic experience. But the question is what do the harasser get by insulting his ex wife publicly? nothing , but mental satisfaction and he feels the world is sympathizing with him. WELL SORRY TO SAY.. NO ONE SYMPATHIZES WITH AN ABUSER . THE INTERNET AUDIENCE ENJOYS THE VERBAL BATTLE AND THEN WITHDRAWS THEIR ATTENTION BECAUSE BY THEN THE HARASSER HAS COMMITTED A HUGE CRIME OF ONLINE DEFAMATION AND STALKING WHICH NO LAW OF ANY COUNTRY FORGIVES.
My friend Mokshda, who specializes on domestic violence laws , opines that online domestic violence or harassing the ex spouses can be a severe crime. The US law specifically tags it as a crime under the Violence against women re authorization Act 2005; similarly the Canadian Penal Code and the Charter of rights and freedoms of Canada addresses online defamation, stalking and harassment of victims of domestic violence as a severe crime.Many provincial laws of Canada are being formulated to prevent stalking as part of domestic violence.However, the laws need to strengthened more to address the specific problem.
But law can only punish the abuser, what happens to the poor women who had already gone through the storm and get to see another huge wave again? The police can nab the abuser , the law can prevent him from such types of socializing any more.It is the women , the victims who have to bear the pain.Can you imagine what may happen to a victim in this condition when she has to parent her child single handedly? How much pressure she may have to go through to suppress her pain, anger , frustration , desperation to live life as it comes. No , it is not the abuser who can be told to stop , because the demon in him would never allow him to stop, but you and me can stop this abuse of internet by simply banning such atrocious actions in the cyber space.Do not pay attention to the abuser and his foolish ways of letting people know how much inhuman he can be. If you get to see one message of such kind, block the sender from sending further such messages. Delete the message and let the world know you don't allow yourself to be an element of harassment for others.