Malavika Rajkumar took part in a panel discussion co-hosted by UN Women and IIT Delhi on ‘Combating Online Gender-based Violence’ on 5 December 2023.
As digital technology mediates more and more of our daily lives, it is also facilitating new and heightened forms of gender-based violence (OGBV). Cyberbullying, doxing, hate speech, stalking, deep fakes, and intimate image abuse have been on the rise. This leads to severe psychological impacts and academic difficulties and threatens women's safety. The Economist Intelligence Unit found that 38% of women have had personal experiences of online violence, and 85% of women who spend time online have witnessed digital violence against other women.
This panel discussion was hosted as part of UN Women’s efforts towards preventing gender-based violence. This discussion is part of a series of ‘Fireside Chats’ conducted to mark 16 Days of Activism against OGBV. Besides Malavika, Vrinda Bhandari, Advocate on Record, Supreme Court of India; Neova Paul, PhD Scholar, IIT Delhi; and Julie Thekkudan, South Asia Consultant, Equality Now took part in the event. The session was moderated by Poulomi Pal, Program Analyst, UN Women.