Curbing rising crimes against women!

By M.Y.Siddiqui

Political leaders have been urged to conduct awareness campaigns to end crimes against women; block unauthorized virtual private network (VPN) and the “dark web”. All political leaders should campaign to raise awareness among masses about gender sensitization to have a deep and lasting impact to change the pattern and attitude of society towards women. This has been stated in a latest report of the Standing Committee of Parliament on the Ministry of Home Affairs tabled in March 2021 in the second part of the Budget Session of Parliament. The Committee was headed by Mr Anand Sharma, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).

Parliamentary report took cognizance of rise in domestic violence against women during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and stated this was mainly due to disruption in economic activities, work from home and family spending more time at home during lockdown. It said female migrant workers were trafficked and had gone missing. The report further said rural and urban employment guarantee schemes must focus on poor women so that cash transfers to them could continue longer. A moratorium on interest rates for self-help groups or loan repayments would also help as they support families in big way. Some such steps would raise women’s participation in employment and lead to a reduction in violence against women.

As for the dark web, the Parliamentary panel noted with anxiety that VPNs can easily be downloaded as many websites provide such facilities and advertise them. It recommended that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) coordinate with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology to block permanently such VPNs with the help of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). It further recommended a coordination machinery should also be worked out with international agencies to ensure that these VPNs are blocked permanently. The MHA must take initiatives to strengthen the tracking and surveillance mechanisms to further improve and develop state-of-the-art technology to put a check on the use of VPN and the dark web.

Taking note of misuse of cyberspace and protecting children from crimes like stalking on line, trolling and molesting, the Panel recommended that cyber safety lesson plans should be included in the curriculums to make students aware of internet safety and its responsible use. Further, the educational institutions should be instructed to hold sessions with parents at early stage to make them identify any signs of their children being victim of any of the cyber crimes!

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