“If the soul left in darkness sins will be committed.
The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness”.
(Victor Hugo)
Introduction-
Victimisation is the term which is commonly used, meaning this term when a person becomes a victim of any offence committed against him. In continuance of it, sexual victimisation is a kind of victimisation in which sexual offence committed against the person that can be rape, child sexual abuse, sexual violence and many more and that does not affect individual on superficial manner but it affects deeply. The person becomes a primary victim of that offence and such offence affects the family of an individual and they become secondary victims.
Sexual victimisation is the situation in which a person suffers a difficult situation in maintaining relationships with others, some of them have issues like anxiety, depression, guilt, and anger and that is because the self-shame and blame create obstacles for them to be strong and develop relationships with others. Sexual victimisation is a problem which does not affect an individual to a certain extent but it affects the individual social, mental, emotional, and economically as well. Sexual victimisation is no concept which is gender specific but it is usually observed against females.
Females are more prone to such sexual offences reason behind it is due to patriarchal society, lack of education, financially unstable, body appearances, and sexual objectification of women are some of the reasons. It is also observed that usually rape and sexual violence are committed against women like the Nirbhaya Rape case which create a huge outcry in society, that case becomes the breath and soul of the society and brings a change in the country in particular rape provision of Indian Penal Code. On the other hand, the acid attack was also observed against a woman brings an amendment in the provision of the Indian Penal Code. Sexual victimisation is not limited to the specific boundary but it affects the people at large, worldwide. It’s not the point to ignore, that person who is a sexual victim in a particular country cannot ignore the pain of other sexual victims in another country.
Data on Sexual Victimisation–
National Crime Records Bureau, under ‘Crime in India,’ highlights that a total of 4,05,326 and 3,71,503 cases of crime against women were registered across the country during the years 2019 and 2020 respectively.[1] When we talk about male and their vulnerability as towards sexual offences it was reported that 38% of males responded that are also vulnerable to sexual harassment in the workplace[2]. It was also highlighted that 150 million girls and 73 million boys under the age of 18 experienced forced sexual intercourse or other types of sexual offences against themselves[3].
It is observed that why cases are not registered against men as a victim of a sexual offences? Well, the answer behind it, is ‘men don’t cry’ this kind of social belief somehow creates an obstacle to bringing the notice, and due to which cases are not reported. In this sexual victimisation, it’s not the fight between men and women who are right or wrong but this data, to some extent, it is highlighted the reality of a society where both males and females are prone to sexual victimisation, but it was largely noticed in case of females.
Other countries and its Responses–
On the other hand, UN reports on women and violence against them depict that around 30% of women older than 15 years at least once in their lifetime suffer physical/sexual violence. Through data, it depicts around globally 736 suffer violence[4]. In continuation when focused on other countries regarding sexual victimisation, the USA is considered as the most developed country in the world, even though that particular country also reported cases of sexual act /rapes around 28%, and 30% of males likely to be a victim of sexual victimisation but it is observed that females are 14times more prone to sexual victimisation.[5].
And the other country like the United Kingdom also reported that through Crime Survey for England and Wales reflected the figure of 162936 total cases were recorded by the year 2020, adults of the age group between 16-74 are victims of sexual assault and it was also observed that by the year of March 2020, it was estimated that around 618000 are females’ victims and 155000 are male victims who suffered sexual assault.[6]
Other countries, like Indonesia, recorded cases of sexual violence against girls and women of 45069 by the year 2020, 797 children or 9.13% of child victims in January 2021. As per the new law of Indonesia, the perpetrators of electronic-based sexual violence will be punished with 4 years of imprisonment and a fine up to US Dollar 13920 and if it is observed that sexual violence is committed with an aim of extortion, coercion in such case punishment will be up to 6 years and fine up to US Dollar 20880. And perpetrators of sexual exploitation will be punished for 15 years with a fine of US Dollar 69,600.[7]
Reasons behind Sexual Offences–
This paper tries to focus on the reasons behind why such sexual offences take place in the country-
- Intoxication- is the most common aspect which directly affects the person. Most of the crimes are committed while in the stage of intoxication. It directly triggers the human mind and due to this person brings out the wrong intention and commits a crime. The person in the state of intoxication does not aware of the nature of the crime. In the Indian Penal Code involuntarily intoxication[8] can be the defence but of person who commits a crime voluntarily intoxicated cannot be the ground of defence.
- Advertisements – usually it is observed that certain obscene advertisements on television, and social media, directly want to attract the audience to their products but somehow, they also sexualise the image of women. They somehow trigger the human mind to act in a particular direction.
- Songs- songs everyone fond to listen to it, they somehow bring calmness to mind from all the chaos around and bring certain emotions of enjoyment, joy, and fun. But what happens, when a song in its lyrics somehow sexualises women, directly portraying the image of women through its lyrics, as a song it will be in the public domain, after visualising particular lyrics it somehow affects the listeners.
- Lack of education- in most cases it was observed that people do not have sufficient knowledge to understand the nature of the offence. In a specific manner, sex education and legal education like rights, and sexual offences against women are not discussed. In continuance of it, one of the famous campaigns is taking place in present scenario #sheincharge which specifically provide legal helps to those female victim’s violent behaviour in their life and data which is recorded by National Commission of Women highlighted that 83.3% of women face the problem of violence by the year of 2021, through this campaign they try to provide legal knowledge related to rights and remedies through templates and so on[9] In 2005, PIL was filed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court highlighting to discuss sex education in schools, the court highlighted that Indian Society is not a modern society where we can openly discuss such topics[10].
- Lack of Awareness- the most important thing in this particular time is awareness, people must be aware of their surroundings. In child sexual abuse or any sexual offence, it is observed that crimes committed by individuals are closed ones or assailants.
- Lack of Communication- in most cases it is observed that there is a communication gap between the parents and children. Due to this, they are not well versed in the situation of their children. Parents must have good communication with their children. For example, in the case of – child sexual abuse, if a child is facing any issue whether in schools or public gatherings child themselves feels open to share with their parents and understand the nature of the offence that is committed against them.
- Misuse of social media platforms- in present time almost all of us use social media for entertainment, awareness purpose and so on but it is usually noticed that people who are accused of committing an offence usually get distracted and diverted to the criminal world by misusing social media platform. They act in a certain manner which is against law and which it affects society. It is also observed that pornography is very common, due to which sexual offences increased. On 20th June 2020, minor boys forced an 11 years old minor girl to watch porn and they tried to assault her.[11].
- Peer pressure- is the most common situation, where a person commits a crime due to certain aggravation given by a peer group or bullied by a peer group. Usually, a person gets to indulge in crime, to some extent these are the reasons.
Role of social media–
While discussing sexual victimisation, the role of social media is also important. In the present scenario, human beings usually spent half of their day on social media whether it can be, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on. The person keeps scrolling and scrolling watching trends on social media. A simple question comes to mind, what is social media? Social media is the platform where a person can express their though not in a particular region but worldwide, photos, videos, and opinions all are shared on social media with a single click. Social media turns into a boon where information is broadcast on a wider aspect and a person not only acts as a consumer but also disseminates the information on this platform and brings opportunities to many young artists to present their creativity on these platforms.
What happens when there are no social media? How do people react to certain matters? How do they communicate with others? Well, the answer to these questions is before us, social media somehow brings an evolutionary change in society without social media people were not aware of certain issues which are taking place in society. They usually spend their time in regular activities, as social media introduced it brings platforms for people to react on any matters of any domain.
With the advent of social media, a single click on social media can bring change in your life, on this platform people can express their views on a certain issue. In the present context, social media brings awareness among people to find out the truths behind the event as it was highlighted through social media – like target killing in Kashmir, it brings attention to every citizen of the country in that particular area, in the same manner when talk about movements which take place on social media #ME TOO MOVEMENT[12] which was introduced on social media with the hashtag. The movement started when a Hollywood producer was accused of sexual harassment by over 70 women, it brings a huge wave on social media and people started sharing their #ME TOO stories without any fear of being judged, discriminate or boycott by others.
Using social media apps for a selfie, and videos is very common but there is #ClimbAgainstSexualAbuse is the hashtag which is used by sexual abuse survivors. Snapchat create filters and it is used globally where users hide their face to record videos or take images, in this case, the Snapchat filter used by sexual abuse survivor used dragon masks to hide their identity from the world but they feel safe and shared their story on it, the eyes of the sexual abuse survivor reflect the pain of the story. With this, it is highlighted that social media is a boon for the society[13].
Misuse of social media–
Social media is also used for some harming image of others by releasing fake news, and pictures regarding the individual to violate the dignity of an individual. In most cases of sexual offences, it is observed against females that videos, posts, pictures or any relevant material which is used by the accused to threaten the victim, released on social media affects her life, liberty and respect in the society.
In the case of State of Tamil Nadu Vs Suhas Khatti[14], in this case, social media is used to take revenge on a victim when she refused to marry. The pictures of the victim, defamatory statements and obscene material are shared on social media. In this case, FIR was filed and the case was framed against the accused under section 67 of the Information Technology Act 2000 and 469 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code. It is considered the first case in which social media played both roles and that brings justice to victims and dignity in the society. This case highlights that people misuse social media to take revenge on another person. In another case, where accused created a fake profile of the victim posted her pictures with a description of being sexually charged. The reason behind this is the accused want to take revenge, so he created the profile of the victim[15] Another case highlighted were two accused raped a woman and live-streamed the offence to another friend. They also threatened the women regarding the release of the video.[16] In a recent case, a girl was sexually harassed and blackmailed her using her video for one and half years, the victim was unable to fight and committed suicide[17].
As it is highlighted that people used social media to defame or to spread fake news in society to create terror, pressure or chaos in the society. In this context, the State of Tamil Nadu introduce Special Media Monitoring Cell which keeps an eye on the fake posts circulated on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and so on.[18]
Use of social media–
Social media and its use is not limited to only posting videos, comments, pictures or for movement but now its use is also wider in context. Social media networking is used to protect women. This was observed in Hyderabad.
SHE TEAM – HYDERABAD CITY is also the first initiative which is introduced by the Telangana government on 24th October 2014, with the vision to provide a safe and secure environment to all working and non-working women[19]. This initiative used social media like Facebook, emails are used by victims to approach the SHE TEAM and to file a complaint regarding the sexual offence. SHE TEAM is used in collaboration with HAWK EYE, which is a mobile app of Hyderabad City Police. Through the SOS button, the message is delivered to all the recipients set by the user along with the message to the nearby police station, and control room and through this, they can trace the location of the victim and provide a suitable measure to resolve the threat. This initiative is something big which is used to bring change in society and the use of social media is such a beneficial way. The objective of the SHE TEAM is to introduce this, to provide maximum help and relief to women who travel in odd hours due to employment, or even those who face any problems while they are in any institution or public place.
Social media and Article 19 –
In the Indian constitution, Article 19 brings Freedom of speech and expression. Article 19, Freedom of speech and expression, means the right to express opinion freely by word, mouth, pictures or through writing but it should not be obscene in nature. Article 19 also imposes certain reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression and it is not an absolute right. Reasonable restrictions are highlighted under Article 19 which should not be against the Sovereignty and Integrity of the country, security of the state, decency or morality about contempt of court, defamation and incitement of an offence[20]. These are limitations which are given under the supreme statute of the country. About social media, it is considered as a more powerful tool in democracy, a single post or comment or reaction can create a different type of wave in society and within a second people start reacting on that particular platform. Social media is like an ocean where millions of opinions, contents, and comments take place but sometimes they directly violate article 19 and because of this to some extent got a ban on a certain post, the server which violates Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. The state doesn’t have the power to be arbitrary in a manner so Hon’ble Supreme Court[21] observed that, the citizens of the country have the right to freedom of speech and expression and they have also a sense of evaluating the issue based on information available to them the opinion formed by citizens cannot be made through the controlled medium. They need to touch on all aspects to arrive at a particular judgement.
Role of social media and sexual victimisation–
Social media plays a major role in investigating the matter at its level, and through its survey and ongoing proceedings, it somehow made it easy for the public to understand the case and frame opinion on that particular matter. For the layman, it becomes easy to understand the matter without getting involved in a spiderweb of jargon.
Social Media to some extent plays a positive role in highlighting the case and invites public polls and opinions. It involves a large number of people on a particular issue but on the other hand, it affects the sensitivity of the matter, people start trolling the matter and taking it lightly. In most cases, as it is easily available to all so to some extent it affects the opinions of adjudicating authority. It also somehow spread fake news related to matters due to which the interest of justice got affected.
Social Media as Bane in Sexual Victimisation –
In recent times, Amber Heard Vs Johnny Depp [22]case, in this case, Amber Heard alleged Johnny Depp for abusive behaviour while the verdict of the court is in the favour of Johnny Depp. In this context, Amber Heard stated that there was truth in her testimonies but social media affects the jury’s decision. In the Muzaffarpur Shelter Case, in which several women allegedly raped and abused, in this case, Hon’ble High Court stated in the context of media that there is a need to maintain balance and there is need to draw the line and also asked the media to refrain from publishing as it could be detrimental for the justice[23].
In the case of State of Karnataka Vs Puttaraja[24] case, Hon’ble Supreme Court highlighted that Section 228 A of the Indian Penal Code, prohibits the disclosure of identity in certain offences. The Hon’ble Court also highlighted that to avoid any kind of social victimisation of a victim of a sexual offence is appreciated to address by ‘victim’. In case of social media and print media, the Hon’ble Supreme Court Highlighted that no person is allowed to print or publish details about a victim through which it is easy for others to identify the victim and known by the public[25].
Even though in the case of the Kathua Rape case, the social media revealed the identity of an 8-years old girl raped and killed in the Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir. The Hon’ble Court mentions that such kinds of publications are not permissible as it is an injustice to the victim’s family. The court also asked 12 media houses to pay compensation of 10 lacs each to the victim’s family for revealing the identity of the victim and also prohibited them from publishing any details related to the victim or disclosure its identity[26].
Social Media as Boon in sexual victimisation–
But there are certain cases where social media plays a major role, thousands of people across the world get united on this platform and asked for justice from the adjudicating authority. This creates a kind of pressure for speedy disposal of the case and brings certain amendments in the provisions of statutes and punishment to offenders.
One of the famous cases, Nirbhaya gang rape, is one of the evilest acts in history. It is the case which comes under the category of ‘rarest of rare cases. In this case on 16th September 2012, a 23-year-old girl was raped by 6 men including a juvenile. This crime creates a huge outcry not in a specific area but on social media, people started protesting to bring justice to her, and on social media, people start posting in favour to get justice and asking for the death penalty for the accused. Later on, certain amendments take place by expanding the definition of rape and also stricter punishment including the death sentence. All this was made possible through the activity of people on social media seeking justice for Nirbhaya even far from that area.
Another case in which social media plays a major role is Pollachi Sexual Assault Case[27], in which the preparators used social media for communication among themselves and they filmed video blackmailing the survivor. In this case, the survivor was approached through social media and she filed an FIR for the offence of sexual assault committed against her and the preparators of the offence were caught through the images on social media.
Laxmi Agrawal is one of the famous names in Indian history, a female who become an inspiration for thousands of acid attack survivors. In the case of Laxmi Agarwal Vs Union of India[28], a petition filed in Hon’ble Supreme Court seeking justice, asking ban on the sale of acid and valid id proof is required in the purchase of acid. This case also highlighted the compensation to the victim. She has not stopped but initiated helping other women through social media who face domestic violence, and other mental challenging issues. She highlighted that she used social media for her online session to motivate other survivors and dissuaded them from committing suicide[29].
Suggestion–
This paper highlighted both the aspects related to social media in the role and to which extent it affects cases related to sexual victimisation. Through this, it is important to understand that at present time social media is used as a sword and shield in different situations, which affects individuals and the public at large.
At present, I believe that our country has so many statutes which somehow protect the individual and those are derived from the Supreme law of our Constitution but as a layman when thinking from his perspective, I believe that nobody is much aware of such statutes. I believe that very a smaller number of people know the Indian penal code, even some of them know it just because it includes the penal provision. In the present context, formulating statutes is considered a most important function of the legislature, in the same way, spreading the knowledge of statutes, and acts/omissions which are prohibited by law must be known by the public at large. People must develop analytical thinking, and legal opinion, which can be rooted when students in schools get knowledge of the term ‘offence’ whether it is sexual or not in nature. Also, I believe that media house, and social media platform through videos, contents reflect their progress in spreading awareness related to sexual offence and their role in that particular matter.
I believe that it is also important for Legislature to enact legislation which highlights the role and limitation of social media and most important people must aware of the terms which are used in that legislation. The Judiciary to some extent released guidelines related to not revealing the identity of the victim in sexual offence cases but I believe that the Hon’ble Court of the country released guidelines which specify what are the limitations of media in sexual victimisation cases, like not revealing evidence related to the proceedings, strict ban on releasing fake news related to matter and so on.
With this, it can also, suggest that there is a need to introduce some kind of penal provision which strictly impose punishments on those who use media as a platform of revenge to harm the dignity of an individual also a concept of compensation by the accused to victims in case of use of social media to violate the Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Also, there must be the introduction of some reward concepts in statutes. For example- in the case of fake news, a person whosoever clearly with evidence proves that particular news is considered fake news, that person must be given some reward by the authorities. So that it will reduce the number of people simply believing fake news and start to analyse the news, its importance and its validity. This will create awareness among citizens of the country, through this it is easy to identify the source of fake news which affects the unity of the nation, and also prevents to affects the fair trial in cases of sexual offences.
Conclusion-
This paper, as it highlights that social media is one of the most powerful tools which is used in the present situation, it is not used for simply an entertainment purpose but also to make aware people of a particular event. Social media is also used as a protective tool, to protect women in a democratic country, and used as a tool for governance as well. At present, social media is used widely not by a certain specific group but by all age groups using, and having sufficient knowledge of it. At present, people have more knowledge of the social world use of all social media platforms. But with this, it is important to introduce legal awareness among people while using social media. When highlighting the points in this paper, it is depicting that to some extent social media affects cases and their sensitivity while discussing it, on the other hand, social media is also used by survivors to present their stories or views to motivate others. It completely depicts that the use of social media depends upon the individual/organisation, how to utilise the resource and receive the maximum benefit of it, and affects the public at large, to reduce such issues authorities and Judiciary must take discuss with public at large.
Submitted By-
Name- Astha Mishra
Programme- BALLB(H), 5th year(9th sem).
Institution- Amity University Rajasthan.
[1] NCRB data, TABLE 3A.1.xlsx (ncrb.gov.in)
[2] Kritika Kapoor, Men too are a victim of sexual harassment, Dec 21,2012,15:55IST, Men too are victims of sexual harassment – Times of India (indiatimes.com)
[3] WHO, 2004, Statistics – International CAP
[4]Facts and figures: Ending violence against women | What we do | UN Women – Headquarters
[5] Sexual Assault Facts and Figures | mpdc
[6]Sexual offences in England and Wales overview – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
[7] The NewIndianExpress, Indonesia’s new sexual violence law recognises men and children as survivors amid growing cases- The New Indian Express, 12th April 2022, 03:27 PM.
[8] Section 85 of the Indian Penal code.
[9] Yashwini Basu, Nyaay’s #Sheincharge Camapign, Bar and Bench, 12March2022, [Vidhispeaks] Nyaaya’s #Sheincharge campaign (barandbench.com)
[10] Isha Ghai, sexual offences against women: key interventions, livelaw, 13June 2022, 1:43 PM, Sexual Offences Against Women: Key Interventions (livelaw.in)
[11] The NewIndianExpress, Coimbatore teens held for sexually assaulting 11-year old girl, 20th June 2020,10:24PM.
[12] Indianexpress.com, What is the Me Too Campaign Movement in India? (indianexpress.com), 14th Oct 2018.
[13] Yusuf Omar, Using Snapchat to give a voice to a sexual abuse survivor, The Guardian, 26th Aug2016, 09:00BST, Using Snapchat to give a voice to sexual abuse survivors | Media & Tech Network | The Guardian
[14] C No. 4680 of 2004
[15] www.newindianexpress, College student in Delhi held for creating fake social media of woman in revenge- The New Indian Express, 3rd June 2022.
[16] Timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Madhya Pradesh: 18-year-old girl raped by 2 men in Gwalior, crime ‘live-streamed’ to a friend | Bhopal News – Times of India (indiatimes.com), 11 June 2022.
[17] Timesofindia.indiatimes.com, Kalyan suicide case: 8 held; victim ‘sexually harassed’, say cops | Thane News – Times of India (indiatimes.com), 15June 2022.
[18] Selvaraj A, Tamil Nadu: Special police unit to monitor fake social media posts,Timesofindia.indiatimes.com,19March 2022,08:45 IST, Tamil Nadu: Special police unit to monitor fake social media posts | Chennai News – Times of India (indiatimes.com).
[19] www.sheteamhydpolice.telegana gov.in, SHE TEAM | OBJECTIVES (telangana.gov.in).
[20] Ayushi Jaiswal, Essay on social media and the Constitution of India, Manupatra, April-June 2015, ESSAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA (manupatra.in),
[21] Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India and others v. Cricket Association of Bengal and others, AIR1995, SC1236.
[22] Elizabeth Bair and Ayana Archie, Amber Heard says social media was a factor of her defamation trial jury, www.wunc.org,15th June, 5:00 am EDT, Amber Heard says social media was a factor for her defamation trial jury | WUNC
[23] www.indianexpress.com, Muzaffarpur shelter case: Media trial of cases can’t be allowed; press needs to draw a line, says SC | India News, The Indian Express,11th September 2018.
[24] 1998 CrLJ 3683 (Mad), The Hindu, Don’t reveal the identity of victims in sexual offence case: Supreme Court – The Hindu, July 10 2021.
[25] Devika Sharma, S.C issues directions for protection of the identity of victims of rape and sexual offences; the need for victim-friendly trial stressed upon, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. December 2018, SC issues directions for protection of the identity of victims of rape and sexual offences; need for victim-friendly trial stressed upon | SCC Blog (scconline.com)
[26] www.economictimes.indiatimes.com, social media did a disservice by revealing rape victim’s identity: HC, 18th May 2018, Kathua: Social media did a disservice by revealing rape victim’s identity: HC – The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
[27] Gita Aravamudan, Pollachi sexual assault case shows how social media makes survivors vulnerable, can be misused by predators, Firstpost, 20 March 2019, Pollachi sexual assault case shows how social media makes survivors vulnerable, can be misused by predators-India News, Firstpost.
[28] 2014 SCC 4 427.
[29] Swati Chaturvedi, No one’s alone: Acid Attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal stands by women in distress, the Hindustan Times, 29 April 2020, No one’s alone: Acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal stands by women in distress – Hindustan Times