So, women should not post their pictures, try to voice out their opinion or even go near the internet, in order to remain safe. Right? I think, not.
With the increasing cases of cyber-crimes and internet trolls, nobody is safe. However, this situation is worse for women, as evident from the socio-cultural restrictions and anti-feminist internet trolls. The restrictions in some cultures makes internet inaccessible to women and often, makes way for blaming a woman for being victimized to cyber-crime.
When a woman wishes to voice out her opinion or an experience on gender discrimination that she faced, she is immediately shutdown with backlash from anti-feminists and misogynists who call her a "feminazi bitch". This issue goes to an extent where a woman is threatened psychologically, emotionally and sexually.
With a vast number of unethical and criminal happenings, it has become natural for a person to ask a woman to beware of the content she posts online. Eventually, women are cornered to shut up and stay hidden on the internet. However, this is not the right way to approach the issue. The solution is not asking the women to beware but asking the criminals and the trolls to be human. One might ask, "if you left your house unlocked and you got robbed, isn't that your fault?". The answer to this is, comparing women with possessions is demeaning.
Women are humans who deserve equality and safe space to enjoy all the services and to voice out their opinions if they wish to. A woman should be able to post her photograph online without the fear of having the photograph morphed. A woman should be able to voice out her opinion on the online platform without the fear of being threatened to be raped or killed. It is their right. Therefore, the solution lies in all our hands, for it is we who use the internet and it is one among us who either becomes the victim or the bully. If we can keep our actions in check and have the basic respect for another individual, the internet could be a safe place not only for women, but for every individual on the planet.
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