Protect Youth From Cybersex Crimes

Battling loneliness and lacking awareness, India’s youth are sharing much more than what is good for them online and becoming the unwitting victims of crimes ranging from sex tortion to doxing and more. The prevailing laws, unfortunately, are inadequate

- DR PAVAN DUGGAL

THE free spirit of youth restlessly explores the unknown and experiments with the new, and for it, cyberspace is the preferred playground to hang out not only to share views on sexuality online but also to explore different facets of sexuality. Yet, implicitly trusting social media and suchlike that crowded cyberspace is fraught with its own risks.

I see many cases of married couples who unthinkingly record their private moments on their devices, apparently for keepsake. But when such marriages turn sour, this very content becomes a bone of contention leading to ugly legal and criminal liability consequences.

The young drop all inhibitions and share their personal and sexually oriented audio, video, text, and images with others, known and unknown, in the online ecosystem without any second thoughts. For many, it is a way to deal with their loneliness. However, this method of channelling loneliness has its downside.

It’s no wonder that sexuality-related offences have been on the rise among the youth, with sextortion headlining the list of such crimes. Further, publishing nude or compromising photographs on various pornographic and Darknet websites has become a rising trend.