Legal Treatment of Cyber Crimes Against Women in USA

US, is one country, which started the evolution of the Internet and also the first to be affected and the first to retaliate to the ugly side of the Internet, the cyber crimes. US saw a sea of growth in the cyber crimes against women and created new laws to mitigate such crime and prevent future victimization. In this chapter, we discuss about various laws developed by the US to prevent cyber victimization of women as well as conventional laws that were applied to protect women in cyber space. Regulation of crimes in cyber space such as cyber bullying, cyber stalking are examined in detail. The issue of privacy in cyber space vis-à-vis the laws related to that are identified and analyzed.

Women’s Rights in the Cyber Space and the Related Duties

Rights of women in cyber space are as important as rights of women in physical space. In this chapter, both rights of women in cyber space and their related duties are placed with equal emphasis. Role of conventions, which support the rights of women in cyber space, their successes, their failures in the execution in cyberspace, are discussed. The importance of CEDAW and its execution in cyber space is strongly emphasized. Laws and constitutions of countries like USA, Canada and India are also analyzed. Various duties of women in cyber space is newly created and examined in-depth with a discussion.

Definition, Typology and Patterns of Victimization

In this chapter, an attempt is made to operationally define cyber crimes against women, as we have found that the definitions of cyber crimes have changed in the past decade and we presume that even this will change in the future decades to come. In addition, the current definitions do not specifically fit in to the nitty-gritty issues of cyber crimes against women and a succinct operational definition is provided. A new set of typology is made with regard to the cyber crimes against women as not all type of crimes fit to the category of cyber crimes against women. The patterns of victimization of women in cyberspace are dealt by qualitative case studies along with the typology.

Cyber Victimization of Women and Cyber Laws in India

This chapter provides a situational analysis of cyber crimes against women in India and laws that prevent cyber victimization in general and women in particular. The Chapter is divided in to three parts. The part one provides a Situational analysis of cyber victimization of women in India where a pilot study on cyber victimization is also discussed. The Part two of this chapter deals with the current legal protection that are available to women victims in India for cyber crimes such as Offensive communication, Offences against cyber privacy, hacking, stalking and related crimes, Cheating by impersonation, Voyeurism, Pornography, obscenity and indecent representation of women in the cyber space. The part three discusses on various loopholes that exist in Indian laws especially the Indian Information Technology Act and suitable solutions are provided.

Introduction

This introductory chapter gives a detailed overview of the book. This chapter explores the historical aspect of victimization of women users in the internet. This includes the discussion on why mostly women are targeted in the cyberspace and what methods the offenders use to attack them in the cyber space. The time periods or the spaces in which women are attacked are also discussed. The authors dwell in detail on the reasons why they chose to write a book on only women victims of the internet. This chapter also gives a detailed description on the research done to write this book. This chapter also gives the aims and the audience that the book is aiming to attract. In addition, the scope and the expected implications of the book are presented.

Cyber Space Regulations for Protecting Women in UK

This chapter describes various features of regulation of cyber space by the UK. The regulations for unauthorized access and related activities, Stalking and stalking related activities, gender sensitive offensive communications and sexual offences are discussed in detail. The issue of consented and unconsented sexual exposure in the internet and various regulatory provisions related to that is also analyzed. A discussion is followed where an emphasis is made for creation of new women centric laws for their protection in cyber space as the current laws, which are dealing crimes against women in cyber space, are found to be archaic.

Cyber Laws for Preventing Cyber Crimes Against Women in Canada

This chapter gives an overview of laws related to cyber crimes against in general and women in particular. Though there are no specific laws that were developed to mitigate crimes against women in cyber space, Canadian laws of physical space govern the cyber space crimes well. The various issues that are discussed in this chapter are: Cyber nonsexual offences against women and regulating laws in Canada, Online Stalking and related offences, Online harassment through modification of digital contents and misusing the same, Offensive communication against women, Cyber defamatory libel against women, Cyber hate propaganda against women and legal situation, Responsibilities of the ISPs, Cyber privacy and related offences against women, Regulating cyber sexual offences for women in Canada, and the problem of Obscenity and regulating laws.

Model Charter and Conclusion

This chapter provides a model charter and a conclusion to the book. The contents of the Model charter to prevent online victimization of women are: Part I: Purpose, Part II: Definition, Part III: Proposal for cyber rights for women, Part IV: Proposal for a code of conduct in the cyber space, and Part IV: Proposal for Promotion of researches on offensive cyber conducts targeting. In the conclusion we have strongly emphasized the need for new laws related to cyber crimes against women, both in less developed and developed nations. In addition, the need for more research works that analyzes cyber victimization of women is emphasized.

Etiology, Motives, and Crime Hubs

This chapter describes on the various aspects that surround victimization of women in the cyberspace and goes in depth to analyze the reasons for such victimization. The etiology of cyber crimes against women is something novel as this has overridden the conventional causes of criminality. The motivation behind the cyber crimes against women is also analyzed. Spatial aspect of physical space crime is a well-researched subject and in this chapter the ‘crime hubs’ or the hotspots of cyber crimes are dealt. Apart from this an attempt is made to develop characteristics of victims and perpetrators of cyber crimes against women.

Cyber Crime Against Women and Regulations in Australia

This chapter deals with the legal regulations that protect Australian women in cyber space. Various issues that are discussed in this chapter are: Cyber harassments including hacking and hacking related offences against women and regulatory provisions, Stalking women and the concerned laws, Harassments, threatening, blackmailing, defamation and related laws. Legal approach to problems of ‘forced pornography’, obscenity and the Liability of the ISPs as per the Australian laws are also discussed. The chapter ends with a discussion. In this chapter as strong emphasis is made on the need for new laws that will protect Australian women in cyber space as a serious lacuna is found in this issue.