Digital Violence against Women and the Need for Legal Reform: An Indian Perspective in the Age of Social Media and Artificial Intelligence
Author : Dr. Surendra Kumar
Abstract
Digital technologies have expanded women’s access to education, employment, political participation, financial services and public expression. The same technologies, however, are increasingly used to harass, monitor, threaten, impersonate and sexually exploit women. Digital violence includes cyberstalking, gendered abuse, doxxing, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, sextortion, account hacking, location tracking, coordinated trolling and artificial-intelligence-generated sexual deepfakes. These acts cannot be dismissed as merely “virtual” misconduct because they may produce psychological trauma, reputational damage, economic loss, social isolation and physical danger.
The present article examines digital violence against women and evaluates the adequacy of the Indian legal framework. It follows a qualitative and doctrinal research method based on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Information Technology Act, 2000, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, Information Technology Rules and official crime statistics. The study finds that Indian law contains provisions concerning stalking, voyeurism, privacy violations, identity theft, sexually explicit material and platform grievance redressal. The Information Technology Rules were strengthened in February 2026 to regulate synthetically generated information, require labelling and provenance mechanisms and reduce the removal period for specified intimate, morphed and impersonation content to two hours.
Despite these developments, the legal framework remains fragmented. Doxxing, coordinated gendered harassment, cyber flashing, coercive digital surveillance and synthetic intimate imagery are not comprehensively addressed through clearly defined substantive offences. Victims must often rely upon several provisions enacted for different purposes. The article proposes a consent-centred definition of image-based sexual abuse, emergency civil protection orders, re-upload prevention, specialised investigative units, survivor confidentiality, platform accountability and compensation. Legal reform must protect women without creating vague restrictions capable of suppressing legitimate expression.
Keywords: Digital violence, women, cyberstalking, intimate-image abuse, deepfakes, legal reform, intermediary liability.
Cite this Article:
Kumar, Dr. Surendra , “Digital Violence against Women and the Need for Legal Reform: An Indian Perspective in the Age of Social Media and Artificial Intelligence” Shiksha Samvad International Open Access Peer-Reviewed & Refereed Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, ISSN: 2584-0983 (Online), Volume 03, Issue 03, Pp.363-373, March-2026. Journal URL: https://shikshasamvad.com/
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