Cyber Harassment of Women in Power
- CUHRLS
- Feb 16, 2023
- 5 min read
Trigger Warning: harassment, violence against women
INTRODUCTION
With the penetration of technology in every sphere of our lives, cyber harassment has given a new dimension to violence committed against women. One might wonder about the audacity of the perpetrators and deficient infrastructure when even the most powerful segment of females falls prey to this harassment. It was also found that female politicians are more likely to be targeted online than their male counterparts. The susceptibility of the same was 12% more on Facebook and 15-39% more on Twitter. While political ploys can be said to be the root cause of such online abuse, the internalised misogyny and dereliction from the pre-existing gender norms are the premise of the same as well.
GENDERED ONLINE HARASSMENT AGAINST FEMALE POLITICIANS
The Internet is an extremely useful space for politicians to connect with the general public and express opinions about the issues concerning them. Reciprocation in the form of backlash is a part and parcel of using the platform. However, the problem arises when the remarks that should have been politically charged, are deliberately gendered. It has been observed that female representatives are frequently bombarded with false images and information focusing on their physical appearance and sexuality. For instance, American Congresswoman and Speaker of the House - Nancy Pelosi had been called ‘Botox Nancy’ on a number of occasions/ This term is one of the frequent keywords used in the online content associated with her. Additionally, European Parliamentarian shared that she receives pornographic content in e-mails accompanied with ‘Get married instead’. The discussions involving their male counterparts, however, remain confined to their professional duties. The abuse is even more conspicuous when females of colour are considered since it has been found that they are 41% more vulnerable to abusive tweets than their white female counterparts.
As previously discussed, female politicians are subjected to ‘gendered-trolling’. They frequently find themselves on the receiving end of swearing, rape, death threats and get doctored in pornographic content. Moreover, female politicians indulging in controversial subject matters are even more vulnerable and their family members are also targeted in a similar fashion. For instance, British MP Yvette Cooper alerted the police after seeing death threats for her children and grandchildren on social media. Besides that, often the content being circulated online has links with offline developments. In the United States, a plan to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was plotted and was coupled with online disinformation and campaigns. Furthermore, UK MP Jo Cox was stabbed and shot in broad daylight for her political cause. It is important to note that she alerted the police about the online campaigns running against her. Such instances show that cyber harassment against female politicians has far-reaching repercussions and goes beyond slurs and sexist remarks.
IMPACT
It is unfortunate that such incidents make female representatives question if they should even enter politics in the first place. The reluctance is inevitable for the figures released by IPU show that 46.7% of the respondents were concerned about not only their own safety but that of their family and friends as well. Amidst online abuse, the internet becomes an unsafe territory to be in. Not being able to optimise this political tool to connect with the public and express opinions affects them professionally. It is not surprising that democracy must be taking a big toll when women are unable to exercise their political rights freely.
Unfortunately, there is no international treaty/convention designed specifically for eradicating online gender-based political violence. Very few countries have enacted legislation addressing the same. In Bolivia, Article 10 of Decree no. 2935 makes states responsible for formulating and implementing oral and written communication policies for social networks to prevent political harassment against females. Article 282 of Ecuador’s Code of Democracy, 2020 penalises digital media disseminating messages including acts constituting gender-based political violence with a fine and in case it reoffends, potential suspension up to 6 months.
Since jurisprudence catered towards countering online violence against female politicians is scant, a discussion on international framework regarding cyber-crimes against females becomes pertinent. Articles 33, 34 and 40 of the Istanbul Convention have proved to be a landmark treaty for female rights, pertain to online violence against women. Article 34 stipulates criminalising repetitive threats meted out to a person inducing her to fear for her safety, something which female politicians have to constantly deal with. Article 40 is an umbrella provision intending to criminalise online sexual harassment against females which includes unsolicited verbal and non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature which violate the dignity of a person. The Budapest Convention is the most relevant international treaty for cyber-crimes and electronic evidence. Both of them can complement each other where Budapest Convention provides the mechanism for enforcement and prosecution of online gender-based harassment which is dealt by Istanbul Convention. A recent laudable initiative is the Global Partnership on Gender-Based Harassment and Abuse brought into inception by the USA, Denmark, UK, Sweden, Chile, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand and Canada. It focuses on fixing significant gaps in research and policy in this direction and resultantly, come up with international solutions while ensuring progress in every member country.
Nevertheless, the only point of concern that arises is the dearth of research on the efficacy of the policies and conventions discussed above and whether they have had any actual impact in addressing online gender-based political harassment or online harassment directed against females in general.
ROAD AHEAD
Right to freedom of speech of and expression constitutes a human right. However, it does not confer a license to anybody to threaten women online while gravely impeding their political participation. According to the ICCPR, necessity and proportionality are valid grounds for restricting right to freedom of speech and expression of people. For instance, restricting an online rape threat targeted towards a female politician by any state enforced mechanism would be necessary and proportional for her safety.
Henceforth, online harassment against women in power must be controlled by a state-controlled independent mechanism and self-regulation along with due diligence by social media intermediaries. The letter sent to Facebook by 100 US female politicians urging strict action against perpetrators of violence against these politicians is a step in the right direction for making social media platforms accountable.
CONCLUSION
Females are reluctant to join politics and their turbulent tenure is uncalled for. Due to the indifference of the state governments towards the same, they are unable to exercise their political rights freely. Thus, there is a dire need to strike a balance between the freedom of speech and expression of an online user and the right of political participation of women.
Authors: Samriddhi Sanga and Astha Dhawan are fifth-year B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) students studying at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, New Delhi, India.
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