NCW calls for robust law to combat 'advanced' cybercrime against women

The NCW on Friday called for a robust cyber law that can be effective against the advanced methods used by predators to commit cybercrime against women.

National Commission for Women Chairperson Rekha Sharma said there is an imminent need to generate awareness about basic online conduct and redressal mechanisms already in place to report cybercrime.

Addressing a webinar, she said it was imperative to fix onus of responsibility on social media platforms to prevent cybercrimes and making the culprits accountable and answerable whenever such cases occur.

"A robust cyber law is needed as the Information Technology Act, 2000 needs amendments to accommodate the changing work culture and to prove effective against the advanced ways used by predators to commit cybercrime," Sharma was quoted as saying in an NCW statement.

The key deliberations of the webinar were how the present laws have not been able to completely reflect the ground realities of cybercrime that women are subjected to in their daily lives, the statement said.

'The panellists suggested that though the change in legislation is required, what is even more important is to bring awareness on a large scale of the existing provisions to help victims of cybercrime," it said.

The panellists also suggested that coming together of NGOs, women cells, government agencies, as well as civil society organisations, is imperative for changing the landscape of cyber safety, it said.

One of the key solutions suggested by panellists for combating cybercrimes was the involvement of social media companies for controlling crime against women so that offensive content is pulled down from respective mediums at the earliest, it said.

Specific cyberlaw for women and children and control over one's personal information and data were some of the recommendations suggested by the panellists.

The panel also recommended that there was an urgent need for setting up a quick redressal mechanism for cyber crimes and educating the future generation legally, ethically and morally so that they grow up to become responsible netizens, it said.