Trolls to deepfake: Navigating gender-based online violence
Times of India | 26 November 2025
Kolkata: Organisations dedicated to combating violence and discrimination against women are now battling an even more insidious form of violence that has found a new space: online. Swayam, along with NGOs such as Aman Network and Talash, launched its 16-day annual awareness drive to shed light on digital threats and mobilise collective action to combat gender-based online violence.
Anuradha Kapoor, founder of Swayam, said, "Online doxxing, stalking, trolling, impersonation, morphing, and non-consensual circulation of intimate images operate as mechanisms of control, surveillance, and intimidation. These forms of violence systematically undermine women's participation online, restrict freedom of expression, and reproduce structural gender inequalities in the digital sphere."
There were several cases of online frauds, cheating, and sexual crimes targeting women reported in Kolkata and elsewhere. Women were subject to rape and blackmail over compromising photographs, either taken by a purported lover or fraudsters who digitally altered and morphed images. With the emergence of artificial intelligence and deepfake videos, the problem is only set to become compounded, with women and girls vulnerable to blackmail and coercion.
Suvankar Chakraborty, the officer in charge of the cyber cell in South division, pointed out that while police would continue to try and bring the culprits to book, people needed to also take safeguards by keeping their profiles locked and learning where to draw a line. He said, "The consequences of online violence are serious. What is put online stays online. Even if we manage to take the content off a platform, it can crop up somewhere else. It is, therefore, advisable to act with caution and prudence online."
While Chakraborty urged women facing online violence to step forward and report the crime to bring perpetrators to justice, Swayam executive director Amrita Dasgupta said women needed to break free of shame, stigma, anxiety, and depression that sometimes drives victims to even suicide. She said, "The crime may be online, but consequences are severe and real. In this digital age, everyone is on a smart device. Unfortunately, there are no community standards. No one talks about safety and consent. At first, everyone thought the online world was anonymous. But now, there is a realisation that nothing is anonymous. The violence that used to happen behind closed doors or in deserted streets is now happening before the entire world."
Over the 16 days, Swayam will host a series of events, workshops, and discussions designed to educate the public, support survivors, and promote policy changes that address online violence. The initiative calls on individuals, communities, and policymakers to take a stand against all forms of gender-based violence and work towards a safer, more equitable digital landscape for women and girls.