By Mohd Zeyaullah Khan

In the current era of social media, the online abuse too has reached to a different level in our Indian society. Online abuse, particularly aimed at women, seems to be accelerating in our country. Online threats are reportedly the most typical provocation to violence against women. As per the study conducted by Internet Democracy Project (IDP), the verbal online abuse in India against women is simply on a rise. It said that to be a woman online is just like ​“to be a woman walking the streets of an Indian city, town or village – is to transgress an unwritten law of patriarchy; to cross over into a space that isn’t meant to be yours.”

The IDP study found that women faced being called names and abused online, getting their defaced pictures posted online and receiving threats, etc. The trigger however could be anything from a tweet on rape, to a blog on a politician or a peace process, or even on inoffensive issues and pictures. The grim reality is that so far Indian streets were considered unsafe for women but now women online too are exposed to abuse. It’s high time that the bane of a patriarchal society is put to rest and offenders are punished and sexual harassment be curbed in the nation.