Today, the threat is not only on the road or inside the home; it is also inside the mobile phone, social media account, messaging app, email inbox and even cloud storage.The rapid growth of internet, smartphones, social media and artificial intelligence has empowered women through education, work, expression and financial independence. However, the same digital space is now being misused for harassment, blackmail, exploitation and fear.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau data (NCRB) , 4,45,256 cases of crimes against women were registered in India in 2022, with major categories including cruelty by husband or relatives, kidnapping and abduction, assault with intent to outrage modesty, and rape.
More recent public summaries of NCRB 2023 data indicate that the number of reported crimes against women remained around 4.7 lakh, showing that the issue is not isolated but persistent. These figures reflect only reported cases; many incidents, especially online harassment, image-based blackmail, domestic abuse and sexual threats, often remain unreported due to fear, shame, social pressure or lack of awareness.
From Physical Crime to Digital Crime:Crimes against women are no longer limited to visible physical spaces such as homes, streets, schools, workplaces or public places. With the growth of smartphones, social media, messaging apps, online payments and artificial intelligence, many forms of violence have shifted to the digital space. Earlier, the accused could often be identified and physical evidence could be produced; today, offenders may hide behind fake profiles, anonymous accounts, virtual numbers, encrypted messages and manipulated digital identities.
Online abuse may begin with a simple message, friend request, comment or video call, but can quickly turn into cyberstalking, threats, obscene messages, fake accounts, morphed photographs, blackmail, revenge pornography, cyberbullying, sextortion and financial fraud. Artificial Intelligence has made the threat more serious through deepfake images and videos, where even fake content can cause real emotional, social and reputational harm.
Girl children are especially vulnerable as they often use phones, gaming platforms, online classes and social media without fully understanding privacy and safety risks. Government data shows this shift clearly, with cyber crimes against children rising from 232 cases in 2018 to 1,823 cases in 2022. Anonymity further protects offenders, as they hide behind fake profiles, temporary numbers, fake emails and VPNs, making them more confident to harass, threaten and exploit victims. Thus, crimes have not disappeared; they have only shifted from the street to the screen, and from physical presence to digital anonymity.
There is #NoExcuse for online abuse : UN Women
AI: A Double-Edged Tool: Artificial Intelligence is one of the most powerful technologies of the present time. It can support education, healthcare, governance, policing, environmental monitoring, disaster warning, language translation, public service delivery and many other areas. We all aware about the good things that AI can do for us, on the other hand when such technology falls into the hands of criminals, it can become a dangerous weapon.
AI-enabled tools can now create fake images, clone voices, generate deepfake videos and imitate real people with frightening accuracy. A girl’s ordinary photograph from social media can be misused to create a false obscene image. A woman’s voice can be cloned and used for blackmail or fraud. A fake video can be circulated to damage reputation, break families, silence voices or force victims into mental trauma.
UN Women has warned that technology-facilitated violence includes digital abuse, online stalking, trolling and other forms of gender-based violence. Recent discussions by UNDP and UN Women have also highlighted that deepfakes and coordinated online harassment are creating new forms of abuse and pushing women away from public participation.
This is particularly dangerous in a society where a woman’s reputation is still judged harshly. Even when the image or video is fake, the victim may face shame, social pressure, emotional breakdown and victim-blaming. The technology may be artificial, but the pain caused is real. Therefore, AI-enabled crimes against women and girl children must be treated not merely as technical offences but as serious attacks on dignity, privacy, safety and mental health.
Every 10 minutes a women is killed: UN Women
Why They Are Targeted?Women and girl children are often targeted because criminals believe they can be silenced through fear, shame and social pressure. Many victims hesitate to report online abuse because they fear that their family may blame them, their education may be stopped, their marriage prospects may be affected, or society may question their character instead of questioning the offender.
Another major reason is lack of digital literacy. Many users do not know how to use privacy settings, block unknown accounts, report abusive content, preserve evidence, avoid suspicious links or file a cyber complaint. They may delete messages out of panic, not realizing that such messages can be important evidence. In rural and semi-urban areas, the problem becomes more serious because digital access is increasing faster than digital awareness.
The challenge is also psychological. Online abuse enters the personal space of a victim. A woman may be sitting safely at home, yet she may feel unsafe because of continuous messages, threats or fake posts. Unlike physical harassment, digital harassment can happen 24 hours a day. It follows the victim everywhere—into her bedroom, workplace, classroom and family life. This constant fear can lead to anxiety, depression, loss of confidence, withdrawal from social media, discontinuation of education or even self-harm in extreme cases.
[Less than half of countries have laws that prosecute online abuse : UN Women]
Report, Respond, Protect. India has taken several steps to address cyber crimes, especially those affecting women and children. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal allows citizens to report cyber crimes with special focus on offences against women and children, including facilities for anonymous reporting and tracking of complaints related to child sexual abuse material and rape/gang rape content.
The 1930 helpline is also available for cybercrime-related assistance, particularly financial fraud. Under the Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children Scheme funded through the Nirbhaya Fund, support has been provided for cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, cyber consultants, and training of police personnel, prosecutors and judicial officers.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre has also been established to strengthen the national response. However, laws and portals alone are not enough; many victims still do not know where to report, while some families suppress such cases due to fear of social shame. Therefore, the response must be fast, victim-sensitive and technically strong, with active awareness efforts by police, schools, colleges, panchayats, women’s groups and civil society organizations. Therefore, while laws, portals and enforcement mechanisms are important, the strongest protection begins with awareness. To minimize such crimes, digital literacy must become a basic life skill, because only an informed user can recognize risks, protect evidence, report abuse and use technology safely.
Digital Literacy: The First Shield, Digital literacy can be a game changer. It is not enough to teach people how to use smartphones; they must also be taught how to use them safely. Every girl child should know that she has the right to privacy, dignity and safety both offline and online. She should know how to set strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication, avoid sharing personal images with strangers, verify links, report fake accounts, take screenshots of threats and approach trusted adults or authorities without fear.
Parents also need digital education. Many parents either give unrestricted mobile access without guidance or completely blame the child when something goes wrong. Both approaches are harmful. Children must be guided, not shamed. Schools should include cyber safety and responsible internet use as part of regular education. Teachers should be trained to identify signs of cyberbullying and online exploitation. Colleges and workplaces should have awareness programmes on digital harassment, consent, privacy and reporting mechanisms.
Digital literacy must also include boys and men. Crimes against women cannot be prevented only by teaching women how to protect themselves. Boys must be taught respect, consent, empathy and responsible digital behaviour. Sharing a woman’s photo without consent, forwarding morphed content, making abusive comments or participating in online trolling should be socially condemned. Silence and casual forwarding make society a partner in the crime.
Technology, can prevent these crimes, If technology is being misused to commit crimes, technology must also be used to prevent and detect them. Artificial intelligence can help identify abusive content, detect fake profiles, trace harmful networks, flag deepfake videos and support faster investigation. Social media platforms must be made more accountable for quick removal of harmful content. Digital evidence preservation tools, cyber forensic laboratories and trained investigators are essential for effective prosecution.
At the same time, ethical AI is necessary. Technology companies must design platforms with safety in mind, especially for women and children. Privacy settings should be simple. Reporting mechanisms should be visible. Harmful content should be removed quickly. Victims should not have to fight alone against large platforms and anonymous offenders.
Digital Safety: The Road Ahead. The fight against crimes against women and girl children in the digital age needs a strong and collective response because the nature of crime has changed. It is no longer limited to streets, homes, schools or workplaces; with the speed of the internet, one fake image, abusive post, threatening message or deepfake video can spread everywhere within minutes and cause lifelong emotional, social and reputational damage.
Laws, reporting portals and cybercrime units are important, but they must be supported by fast action, digital forensics, public awareness, school-level cyber safety education, responsible technology platforms and a society that supports victims instead of blaming them. Online crime is not “virtual”; its impact is real, painful and often permanent.
Therefore, digital safety must be treated as seriously as physical safety. Technology should empower women, not silence them; artificial intelligence should not become artificial cruelty.
Let us build a society where every woman and every girl child can walk freely on the road, speak freely online, dream without fear and live with dignity-because safety is not a privilege, it is a right.
Surajit Barua, AEITO, Assam Pollution Control Board
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