The news of women being frequently victimised in cyber space is not surprising, especially in a country like Bangladesh where most of the online users are amateur in computer literacy. Cybercrime is a relatively modern phenomenon in Bangladesh and can take many forms. It is diverse and ever-evolving. Women are often lured by hoax messages and fake identities in the social media and they fall prey to offenders in cyber space as well as in the real world. Cybercrimes that are commonly prevalent in the social media are cyber obscenity, pornography, cyber stalking, hacking, cyber defamation, and privacy infringement. According to the Cyber Security and Crime Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, 70 percent of cybercrime victims in Bangladesh are women and this figure highlights the vulnerability of women in Bangladesh, no matter where they go, what they do, and how they dress and speak.
Because of sheer lack of awareness about cybercrime, thousands of online users are becoming victims of cybercrimes. The numbers of such victims are increasing day by day. Experts assert that the main challenge in dealing with such cases and arresting the culprits is the delay in reporting to police. Many victims do not want to go to the law enforcers fearing that their identities would be revealed.
We must frame an appropriate and updated
cyber security policy to ensure a safe
cyber space for women in no time
It is not easy to wipe out cybercrimes from the cyber space. The only possible step is to make people aware of their rights and duties reinforcing the application of laws to check cybercrimes. Moreover, people need to be sensitised about the problem.
As cybercrime is an emerging threat and no one is fully secure these days, emphasis should be given on how we can control cybercrimes with continuous monitoring and act accordingly. In this regard, we need to quickly frame an appropriate and updated cyber security policy, create adequate infrastructure, and foster closer collaboration among all those involved to ensure a safe cyberspace for women. Women are today and in the future going to be the principal victims of cybercrime in Bangladesh. This is both threat and opportunity for legislators and those working to protect women in physical as well as cyberspace.
