Violence against women via cyberspace

This article, published in the Economic and Political Weekly  (3 October 2009), is a report of the consultation on the 'Misuse of Communication Technology and Its Linkages with Violence against Women' held in Trivandrum (India) in March 2009. The article advocates that policy choices  need to avoid narratives of fear around new technologies, narratives that can effectively constrain women’s freedom to use digital spaces. Rather, beyond access-centred approaches, the article shows how new technologies have a real potential for women's empowerment, as a space where women can engage with issues of citizenship and interrogate the patriarchal structures of the emerging technological paradigm.