In the context of Covid-19, everything tends to be stopping or have stopped. Road accidents have minimised, manual professional work is also on a decreased level, so all in all, everything from meeting someone to going to a job or work is almost negligible. But one thing that shows some pace is online sexual molestation.
Today, all the meetings, classes happen in online mode, so the notorious elements of society are on their zenith to harass someone. If we look at the literal meaning of online sexual harassment, it means unwanted conveying and conduct of sexual things on any online, digital and social media platform. It’s a human tendency to initially ignore bad things happening to us. And when it reaches its extreme, then we make things loud.
We always make this mistake, but if online sexual harassment is or had been a part of your life, everyone should voice it out. A quite of new forms of online sexual harassment have been coming out and we don’t even know them. Commenting or making ill-suited sexual messages online is as bad as harassing someone in real life.
As the reach of human beings has been spreading to the root of everything, there are some bad things also happening and in the view of online sexual harassment. People have made themselves so shallow that they can go on any level to humiliate someone out of hatred, fun, time pass etc. This creates a deep impact on someone’s mind, heart and soul.
The scene is so adverse that a harasser makes their comments and often, the victims of these harassments don’t even know that this is counted as online molestation. There are different types of online sexual harassment that can be considered online humiliation.
1. We can start from the basic thing, which is receiving any kind of pornographic content from someone. This type is the most fundamental and common. The situation with this era of technology is unfortunate that even small kids aren’t got spared from this. Online pornography is within the reach of everybody and almost all age groups have their reach to this type of content. According to a report, around 60% of women are being harassed by receiving pornographic things.
2. If we look deeper, stalking or following irrelevantly online and messaging them inappropriately is also harassment. This includes sending unwanted pictures or commenting on one’s photographs unnecessarily; or sending friend requests again and again when they are not even friends. Many youngsters come across this type and we always end up ignoring it.
3. Getting unwanted and unwarranted requests for video calls at strange or odd hours. This can be by a professional co-worker or someone unknown. Well, other than urgent work, professional working hours can be considered 9 am-5 pm or 7 pm. In the name of work, people send requests to their juniors, especially women, for unwanted video calls that are really inappropriate.
4. Having calls from people again and again and constant messages on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook etc. from an unknown person and just some inappropriate commenting by them just to make you embarrass yourself is also a part of sexual harassment.
5. Body shaming, photo editing or deliberately using emojis that represent sexual organs or orientation on someone’s picture is also a part of online sexual molestation.
Now, that we have come across so many types of online sexual harassment, it’s time to look at the solutions to these problems. One major response should be from your side. You should put your voice against people who harass others. Next, you should report them to the police so that they can get punished for their action. Alternatively, you can report their identities to various IT cells that are capable enough to cancel out their account and make them regret what they have done and with instant action, these people are behind the bars.
Many people don’t know how to tackle this situation step-by-step, so there are various platforms that spread awareness and vigilance on how to lodge complaints to report incidents of online sexual harassment. One such instance is #haqseonline, an initiative by the foundation Sachhi Saheli.
It is a platform where various experts and varied personalities put light on combatting online sexual harassment. They present their wisdom, perspective and knowledge on the matter to fight for safe internet access for everyone out there. On the occasion of International Girl Child Day, they initiated a campaign for women so that they can lead their lives with full enthusiasm. That’s why their motto is out and aloud.
#haqseonline is so relatable and is carried out online, so anybody can empower and upgrade themselves on this topic. This campaign has various faces including Dr Surbhi Singh, who is vigilant regarding our ignorance of various types of online sexual harassment. There are many programmes associated with this series, including #abpatachalnedo, which can be educative and at the same time, can make children and women aware of the fact that muting yourself isn’t going to assist themselves.
Pitching your voice against these people will help you and many generations to come. They will not only help themselves but also society. But eliminating people who don’t respect people and are not so strong to come out of the internet is the biggest sin. So, on this note, make yourself aware of the fact that talking it out and awaiting yourself will make you more mentally stable and don’t ignore any type of harassment.