In the fiscal year 2075/076, 10 complaints of digital violence against children and 194 complaints of digital violence against women were registered with the police. That number increased to 421 complaints of violence against children and nearly 8,000 complaints of violence against women in 081/082.
What you should know
Stakeholders have emphasized the need for strong and systematic legal provisions to reduce digital violence against women.
Uday Bahadur Rana Magar, acting secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said that the government is concerned about the increasing digital violence against women in Nepal.
Before the start of the 16-day campaign against violence against women, Secretary Rana Magar said at a program on the increasing digital violence against women in Nepal organized by the Women, Law and Development Forum and Sancharika Group on Monday, ‘There should be no delay in enacting cyber laws in Nepal.’
Presenting statistics on the increase in digital violence with the increase in literacy in Nepal, Secretary Rana Magar said, ‘In the financial year 2075/076, 10 complaints of digital violence against children and 194 complaints of digital violence against women were registered with the police. That number increased to 421 complaints of violence against children and nearly 8,000 complaints against women were registered with the police in 081/082.’
He also said that a law on social media regulation is necessary. ‘Given the current difficult situation, this issue may not be relevant, but it has become extremely important for the state to maintain access to social regulation,’ he said. Emphasizing the need to include digital literacy in the curriculum, Secretary Rana Magar said, "Since 38 percent of women in the world are victims of digital violence, we need to think of ways to reduce it." In the
program, Cyber Crime Bureau Police Inspector Deepa Bhattarai informed that 9,000 cybercrime complaints were registered in 2081. Describing the current situation of the country regarding cybercrime, Bhattarai said that 50 percent of this data includes violence against women. In digital crime, men are associated with financial abuse, while the rest are violence against women and children, Police Inspector Bhattarai said.
Presenting examples of what kind of incidents happen in society against teenage girls, Inspector Bhattarai said, "Since such incidents are motivated by blackmail, sex, and revenge, digital violence is linked to mental health. Parents should also be aware of such incidents that occur in the name of trust and love." In the
program, former Miss Nepal and media personality Malvika Subba shared her experience of being a victim of digital violence. Subba said that she has been connected to social media since 2007 and was unable to report even when she was subjected to violence. She gave an example of parents being aware of such incidents, and that if violence is said to have occurred on social media, more violence will occur. She said that there should be an open debate, dialogue, and self-confidence in this regard and then speak out.
Kishori Karki, an activist of the Gen-G movement, said that violence has increased because there is discrimination against sons within the family. She said that violence is reported to the police, action is taken, and then the law does not even talk about what will happen to the victim. Karki, the activist, said that families should be aware of such incidents.
Advocate Sabin Shrestha, the executive director of the Women, Law and Development Forum, said that it is essential to make laws to reduce digital violence. He said, "Even now, cybercrime is prosecuted according to the Electronic Transactions Act 2064, and IT laws have been formulated in neighboring countries such as India and Bangladesh. In our country, action is taken according to the law of 20 years ago."
