Online abuse "affects" 50% plus Indian women using social media, 36% don't respond due to "lack of support"

By A Representative
A new research report, “Cyber Violence Against Women In India”, has said that online abuse is a serious issue in India, claiming to affect more than half of the country's women using online platforms. It regrets, however, “Women and other targets lack support and understanding to respond effectively.” The report is based on a survey of 500 women and separate interviews with 10 of them.
The report's findings say, “Thirty-six per cent of respondents who had experienced harassment online took no action at all”, adding, “Twenty-eight per cent reported that they had intentionally reduced their online presence after suffering online abuse.”
The report further says, some respondents “found it hard to think of online harassment on par with violence, even though 30 per cent of those who had experienced it found it 'extremely upsetting' and 15 per cent reported that it lead to mental health issues like depression, stress, and insomnia.”
The research report comments, “Though avid users of social media, respondents lose trust in popular platforms because of harassment against them or someone they know. Over half want stricter community standards for content, and the ability to escalate reports of abuse.”
According to the report, “Mechanisms to report abuse on social media platforms fall short. Victims are more likely to block abuse than to report it”, adding, “Yet blocking is ineffective against organized, sustained campaigns using multiple accounts.”
The report says, “Assailants readily exploit mechanisms to report abuse, alleging their victims have violated platform guidelines to disable their accounts, adding, “Thirty percent of survey respondents said they were not aware of laws to protect them from online harassment.”
It points out, “Only a third of respondents had reported harassment to law enforcement; among them, 38 percent characterized the response as 'not at all helpful'.”
This research, which is part of Freedom House‘s Hyperlinkers project, seeks to amplify the voices of marginalized communities in global digital rights discussions. Freedom House is an independent, non-partisan watchdog organisation, dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world.\A part of this research has also been published in the Freedom on the Net 2016 India report by Freedom House.
The research says, the report has been published at a time when, in India, as elsewhere in the world, “online harassment of women and marginalized genders and sexualities has become rampant, in contrast to Internet’s initial premise of equal opportunity and neutrality.”
“What we have today is a flawed internet that reflects the offline world we live in, where women and marginalized communities are abused, harassed, threatened, stalked and violated on a daily basis”, it points out, adding, “This research report aims to analyse the unique threats that women and marginalized sections in India face online and how Indian laws affect these problems.”
Commenting on the research methodology, it says, “The report uses both qualitative and quantitative research, including analysis of media reports involving online harassment of high profile women.” It bases its findings on “a survey of 500 social media users and interviews with ten of the respondents.”
The majority of survey respondents are women under 35, living in major cities, and educated to college level or above.
---
Download report HERE

Comments

When growth shrinks people: Capitalism and the biological decline of the U.S. population

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Critically acclaimed Hungarian-American economic historian and distinguished scholar of economic anthropometric history, Prof. John Komlos (Professor Emeritus, University of Munich), who pioneered the study of the history of human height and weight, has published an article titled “The Decline in the Physical Stature of the U.S. Population Parallels the Diminution in the Rate of Increase in Life Expectancy” on October 31, 2025, in the forthcoming issue of Social Science & Medicine (SSM) – Population Health, Volume 32, December 2025. The findings of the article present a damning critique of the barbaric nature of capitalism and its detrimental impact on human health, highlighting that the average height of Americans began to decline during the era of free-market capitalism. The study draws on an analysis of 17 surveys from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (...

US-China truce temporary, larger trade war between two economies to continue

By Prabir Purkayastha The Trump-Xi meeting in Busan, South Korea on 30 October 2025 may have brought about a temporary relief in the US-China trade war. But unless we see the fine print of the agreement, it is difficult to assess whether this is a temporary truce or the beginning of a real rapprochement between the two nations. The jury is still out on that one and we will wait for a better understanding of what has really been achieved in Busan.

Is vaccine the Voldemort of modern medicine to be left undiscussed, unscrutinised?

By Deepika* Sridhar Vembu of Zoho stirred up an internet storm by tweeting about the possible link of autism to the growing number of vaccines given to children in India . He had only asked the parents to analyse the connection but doctors, so called public health experts vehemently started opposing Vembu's claims, labeling them "dangerous misinformation" that could erode “vaccine trust”!

Justice for Zubeen Garg: Fans persist as investigations continue in India and Singapore

By Nava Thakuria* Even a month after the death of Assam’s cultural icon Zubeen Garg in Singapore under mysterious circumstances, thousands of his fans and admirers across eastern India continue their campaign for “ JusticeForZubeenGarg .” A large digital campaign has gained momentum, with over two million social media users from around the world demanding legal action against those allegedly responsible. Although the Assam government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has arrested seven people, and a judicial commission headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati High Court to oversee the probe, public pressure for justice remains strong.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Govt claims about 'revolutionary' rice varieties raise eyebrows: SC order reserved since Jan '24

By Rosamma Thomas * In a matter of grave importance for agriculture, public health awaits Supreme Court ruling, even as top Government of India bureaucrats stand accused of “willful and deliberate disobedience” of the top court. While a contempt petition filed by Aruna Rodrigues , lead petitioner in the Genetic Modification (GM) of crops matter remains pending in the Supreme Court since July 2025, the Union ministry of agriculture asserts that two home-grown gene edited rice varieties are of superior quality, and hold potential for “revolutionary changes in higher production, climate adaptability, and water conservation.” In May 2025, the Press Information Bureau released a press release stating that a “historic milestone” had been reached, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ; the new varieties, DRR Rice 100 (Kamla) and Pusa DST Rice 1 , the press release stated, offer both benefits – increased production and environmental conservation.

Banks, investors pour $52 billion into metallurgical coal expansion despite global climate pledges

By A Representative A new report by the German environmental and human rights NGO Urgewald has revealed that banks and institutional investors have poured nearly $52 billion into the expansion of metallurgical coal, or “met coal,” despite global commitments to phase out coal financing. Between 2022 and 2024, banks provided $21.96 billion in loans and underwriting to met coal developers, while investors held $30.23 billion in securities of companies expanding coal mining operations. The report, Still Burning: How Banks and Investors Fuel Met Coal Expansion, warns that loopholes in coal exit policies have allowed continued support for coal used in steelmaking — a sector responsible for about 11% of global CO₂ emissions.

Bihar election: Democracy running away from people’s issues, politics thriving on fake agendas

By Sunil Kumar* Bihar’s political climate is currently heating up. Since the British colonial era, the state has remained trapped in a haze between labour struggles and uneven development, where basic issues such as unemployment, the plight of migrant workers, education, health, agrarian crisis, and corruption are constantly pushed to the background. In their place, absurd debates around “infiltrators,” “Operation Sindoor,” “Article 370,” “pistols,” “burqas,” and nicknames like “Pappu, Tappu, Appu” dominate the discourse.

Neglected dimension: Important linkages of social relationships, values to climate change

By Bharat Dogra A very important but neglected dimension of the efforts to resolve climate change and related serious environmental problems concerns the social values and relationships among people. To bring out the significance of this neglected aspect let us examine the response of two different types of societies. First, let us try to compare a society in which family and community ties are strong and close with another society where these are weak, where there is strong individualism and a very high number of single person households or units. In the first society there is more sharing of resources and facilities, so that this society tends to consume less (to meet needs such as housing and various gadgets). In addition there is much greater possibility in the first society to mobilize people for tasks like greening of community places or even household spaces. When it comes to tasks relating to climate change adaptation, it is the societies with close social relationships wh...

Search This Blog