Shillong: Addressing a group of college and university students to observe, ‘International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women,’ organised by the State Commission for Women in collaboration with Martin Luther Christian University, Inspector General of Police, Meghalaya, GHP Raju said that while the use of technology and gadgets like smart phones, ipads, laptop computers etc has reduced the isolation between human beings it has also made us more vulnerable to cyber crimes.
Raju warned the audience about uploading private pictures on Whatsapp because those pictures can be accessed by cyber criminals and morphed in order to blackmail or stalk a person.
He said that mobile service providers regularly sell client information to companies for a sum and that is how different companies send mobile advertisements to mobile phone users.
“There is no such thing as a protected password or privacy in the virtual world. Every document can be accessed by the service providers like Google,” Raju informed.
Speaking about the rights of a girl child or woman not to allow unwanted advances by the opposite sex and to be touched, Raju said it is the duty of schools and colleges to educate the students about these rights and what redress they could seek against those who make these advances.
“Child pornography is the biggest trap and many cyber criminals morph the innocent faces of children to produce such visuals. Visiting pornographic sites is an offence under the Information Technology Act,” Raju informed adding that at malls and garment stores where women try on their clothes before buying them, they should be extra cautious to find out if some hidden camera is placed anywhere inside the trial rooms.
Raju further exhorted the State Commission for Women to organize similar awareness programmes for parents. He said parents should monitor who the Facebook friends of their teenage children are and who they are chatting with because a stranger could get their private information and use that to blackmail them or for other criminal purposes.
Earlier, Patricia Mukhim, Editor, The Shillong Times, spoke about ethics and sensitization of the media vis-à-vis eliminating violence against women. She stated that the media follows a set of ethics but media persons still need to build their capacities in understanding gender concepts and sensitive reportage.
Others who spoke on the occasion included N.G. Shylla, an advocate, Theilin Phanbuh, Chairperson, State Commission for Women and Melari Diengdoh, Dept. of Social Work, MLCU.
