Impact of Sexual Violation in the Digital Space on Women’s Psyche

Abstract

Ever since the rise of social media and internet becoming a basic necessity, a lot of our world has been changed for good in so many ways, or is that really so? It is needless to say that with the advent of social media rise, communication has become accessible. According to Data Reportal, there are 692.0 million internet users as of in 2023 with 467.0 million social media users in January, 2023, equating to 32.8% of the total population. One of the many reasons for the rise in the usage of internet could be that a huge amount of market lies online in this day and age with companies finding ways and means to “convert their captive audience into clients”. According to a research conducted by The Hindu Business, one fourth of social network users will be from India in 2026, with YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram being the top most used social media platforms. Along with this efficacious development, there are a number of negative developments as well that followed with the rise of internet usage and social media users. Women have been facing gender-based prejudice since the past ages and even now, they are constantly reminded that they are feeble, which of course come from baseless assumptions and past treatments. Digital spaces have become particularly intrusive, not just as a way to communicate, but as a way to target and demean others, and sexually harass and violate women and to even groom children. It has become a breeding ground for sexual predators and for people who behave inappropriately towards others by violating their boundaries. Lockdown and quarantine only amplified the situation and even more cases of such violations on the internet were reported. According to a report by United Nations Women, one in ten women in the European Union report having experienced cyber-harassment since the age of 15. This included having received unwanted and/or offensive sexually explicit emails or SMS messages, or offensive and/or inappropriate advances on social networking sites. The risk is highest among young women aged 18-29. The purpose of this research is to find out what goes on in the mind of the victims while receiving online threats and explicit advances from strangers and to validate their feelings, give voice to their anguish and frustration, and to align the patterns of the online sexual violation.