Women push back against online abuse, from deepfake porn to doxxing and threats of violence, that has increased amid Covid-19 lockdowns
- With millions of people facing Covid-19 restrictions, the internet has become a refuge for many who are stuck at home
- Online harassment of women and girls, usually by abusive partners or ex-partners, has increased dramatically
When Priya’s boyfriend posted a nude photo of her online, he told her it would give her a confidence boost by making her an object of desire for other men. Instead, she felt powerless, knowing that someone she loved had shared an intimate photo without her consent.
“He said all these people dream of having you but only I get to have you,” she says from Mumbai, not wanting to reveal her real name. Priya’s story is all too common.
There has been a global rise in online harassment of women and girls in the past year, usually by abusive partners or ex-partners who are stuck at home in front of a screen due to coronavirus lockdowns, according to UN Women.
For Priya, it was the start of a series of privacy breaches as her boyfriend began to control her online presence. “I was constantly walking on eggshells. It may not be physical violence but it would mean either I’m slut-shamed (for talking to people online) or worried how my behaviour would trigger him, which always meant trouble for me,” she says.
As worldwide restrictions push more people online, digital gender abuse is likely to worsen now that the internet is an absolute necessity and there is no escape from it, says Azmina Dhrodia, a senior researcher at the World Wide Web Foundation.