What is Cyber Crimes?

A cybercrime or computer crime is a crime related to computers and computer networks [1]. A computer may have been used in a crime or may have been the target itself. Debarati Haldar and K. Jayashankar define cybercrime as "the use of modern telecommunication networks, such as the Internet (chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones (SMS / MMS), to intentionally defame, or directly defame a person or persons with criminal intent." Or indirectly causing physical or mental harms, or damage” [2]. Debarati Haldar and K Jayashankar define cybercrime against women on the basis of gender, "using modern telecommunication networks of internet and mobile phones, intentionally committing crimes against women for the purpose of mental and physical harm" [3].

Who are the victims of cyber-attacks and how?

The Cyber ​​Crime Awareness Foundation, a non-governmental organization working to raise awareness about cybercrime and the safe use of technology, has released a research report on cybercrime in the country. From there, it is known that about 52% of the complaints come from women The most affected are 18- to 30-year-old girls. As a percentage which is about 64 percent. A large part of the complaints is related to Facebook There are horrific allegations ranging from ID hacks to super imposed pictures and pornography. More women are victims of cyber-attacks 52% Complaints from women

30% Women do not know how to take legal action 84% of women are between the ages of 18-30 25% of women think that complaining will not benefit them Source: Cyber ​​Crime Awareness Foundation BBC Bangla Despite being victims of harassment, 30 percent of victims do not know how to take legal action against it. Of the rest, 25 per cent complained to law enforcement but did not think it would be of any benefit, the report said [4].

Gender Based Crimes

Analyzing the data, it has been observed that there is a difference between men and women in the level of cybercrime. Women are more victims of cybercrime than men are. Gender-based distinctions for cybercrime victims show that males constitute 43.45% of the population and females 56.55%. Women are also more likely to be victims of harassment and pornography through social media than men. On the other hand, men are more likely than women to be victims of mobile banking / ATM card hacking and online shopping fraud.

Cyber Crimes at A Glance in Present Time

Among the allegations received from women victims of cyber bullying are pornography, blackmail, Facebook ID hacking, extortion and death threats. According to CID headquarters sources, 29,403 complaints have been lodged on the Facebook page of the Cyber ​​Police Center from September 5 to November 30 this year. According to CID headquarters sources, 29,403 complaints have been lodged on the Facebook page of the Cyber ​​Police Center from September 5 to November 30 this year. Recently, the CID arrested a young man named Mohammad Yasin Ratul. The young man secretly videotaped having sex with at least 20 young women. Later, the video was left on social media, especially on Facebook, cheating with young women. He also deleted the video with a large sum of money from many people. He was later arrested by the police following a complaint by a young woman. At the same time a student named Shafiqul Islam was arrested. The allegation against Shafiqul was hacking the Facebook IDs of the young women and demanding money illegally. Listen to the audio 03:12 Facebook does not want to listen to us: Mustafa Jabbar AFM Al Kibria, deputy commissioner of the cyber security division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told Deutsche Welle that they had brought many like them under the law. Realizing the seriousness of the crime, a case has been filed against them. According to him, most of the complaints received by the police from young women are related to cybercrime. Young women need to be more aware in these cases. Now that cybercrime has gone to such a stage, it is not possible to be ashamed and scared. I would request the victims to immediately lodge a complaint with the police if they are harassed in cyberspace. According to CID headquarters sources, 29,403 complaints have been lodged on the Facebook page of the Cyber ​​Police Center from September 5 to November 30 this year. Besides, 36,610 victims have complained on the phone this year. Of these, 365 are allegations of harassment. 162 cases have been registered in these incidents. 116 cases have been settled. The rest are under investigation. Officials at the CID's Cyber ​​Police Center say 6 percent of the country's women are victims of various forms of harassment in cyberspace. Almost all of these women victims of cyber bullying are young women. Their age is between 14 to 23 years. Symbolbild Anonymous Hacker Different types of cybercrime Identity theft Many people are shopping online nowadays for this you have to give name, address, e-mail, credit card information etc. The problem is their websites that do not have a good security system, if you give this information, it is likely to go to the criminal in that case, the criminal can use your information to void your credit card Because your identity has been stolen! 1234567 How are these allegations of cybercrime being addressed? When asked, Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar told Deutsche Welle, "Facebook is an American company. They do not want to listen to us. Not only us, many countries of the world are going through this crisis. This is why we are trying to amend the law. So that they can be fined large sums. Because if someone is a victim of harassment, the law enforcement is telling. But if Facebook does not respond at the right time, it is difficult to address that complaint. Even then, they are responding to about 30 percent of the demand. It is also very low. According to the Cyber ​​Crime Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the Cyber ​​Crime Unit has received about 5,000 complaints in the last four years. Of these, about 2,000 written complaints have been lodged in the last six months alone. The police are having a hard time investigating this. In addition, the number of cases in this regard is increasing every year. Where in 2016 the growth rate of cases was 15 percent. Which was 6 percent in 2016 and in 2019 it has gone up to 26 percent. And in the last 10 months of this year, it has increased by about 29 percent. In the last 10 months, 1635 cases related to cyber-crime have been registered. Listen to the audio 03:48 Religion does not support it: 

Anywhere from our school to university. Not even in the family. As long as the moral values ​​of the people do not increase, the situation will not improve in a hurry. A person with moral education will never be involved in such crimes.

Cases and Instances
There are numerous instances of cyber violence against women in Bangladesh. Far too many to cover within the limited scope of this write-up. A few of them are discussed in the following section to a limited extent.
 

15th April 2015 marked ‘Pohela Boishakh’, 1st day of the Bengali New Year as a nationally shameful day when we witnessed 30 men ripping off women's' clothing in broad daylight in the capital city of Bangladesh where the victims were celebrating New Year in traditional cultural events. As the pictures of this incident flooded social media, thousands of comments were posted on the internet to justify the culprits’ actions as many conservatives believe such traditional events go against Islam. Moreover, women who raised voice for justice were threatened with sexual violation in various social media platforms and blogs. This incident reveals that violence against women online can transcend beyond individual hostility to a mob aggression [5].       
 

A rather similar example is the case of Lucky Akhter and Sharmin. These two women who were very active during the Shahbagh movement (a nationwide campaign to put war criminals on trial) were subjected to sexual harassment as well as verbal attacks, both online and offline to an unimaginable extent. In the opinion page of one of the most reputed national newspapers named the Daily Star, a lot of abusive comments about Lucky; her body, her sexuality and fictional sexual relationships were published. Morphed photos of her bare body, many showing people molesting her with images of their genitals spread all over the internet. Comments like, “We will fuck you”, “We will rape you” and “We will teach you a lesson” literally engulfed social media [6].       
A university student, on conditions of anonymity, told that she met a boy via Facebook which turned into a love affair. Later, she ended up spending some private moments with him at a place of that boy’s friend. Soon after, the boy started blackmailing her for money threatening to post a compromising video of her on the internet which he had captured with a hidden camera. “I told everything to my family members and gave him the money,” she said (Abir,2015) [7]. 
 

Just like the above-mentioned girl, many others are fast becoming the victims of unreported cybercrime. From schoolgirls to housewives - women are the primary target of cyber criminals. In a survey, a national newspaper named The Independent identified 55 girls who fell victim to cybercrimes.       
A case filed in Shahbag police station in 2014 goes like this - a male university student had an affair with a girl since 2008 and after breaking up, he uploaded a video of their intimate moment in a porn site which was captured by a hidden camera. As soon as her father found out about this, he filed a case in the police station [8].      
Public prosecutor of cyber tribunal Nazrul Islam said, majority of the cases of the tribunal are nearly same in nature. A boy had a relation with a girl and then pictures or videos of their private moments are uploaded in Facebook or porn sites. In most cases the perpetrator is an ex-husband or boyfriend. In addition, in maximum instances, the victim was not aware that the criminal was recording her pictures or videos [9].

Effects of Cyber Crimes

In a somewhat conservative society like Bangladesh, the effects of cyber violence against women are not limited to the victims. They have a chain reaction on their families and eventually tear a hole in our social and moral fabric.

It has been observed that most people generally believe everything posted in social media. Lack of awareness, ignorance and education results into a shallow public psychology which is a major reason for such indiscriminate belief system. As a result, when a girl’s exposed photographs are published along with a spicy fabricated story, general internet users do not go into analyzing whether it’s true or false. They are rather happy to consume such content and become interested to spread the gossip. Such tendency helps make almost any kind of online sex-related chatter go viral thereby amplifying the victim’s suffering by a thousand times. Not to mention the misery of the victim’s family members who face social exclusion, humiliation and public resentment [10].

In a somewhat conservative society like Bangladesh, the effects of cyber violence against women are not limited to the victims. They have a chain reaction on their families and eventually tear a hole in our social and moral fabric. At an individual level, such cyber violence led to severe depression, guilt, embarrassment, self-blame, apprehension and fear of harm to self and family members. Consequently, it leads to shattering the victim’s career, education and social life. Some victims take the route of drug addiction while some choose to end their lives. Only in a handful of exceptional cases do we see the victims recover from such a tragedy.

From 2010 to 2014, Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers' Association identified 65 reported suicide attempts by female victims of violence. It also reveals that on an average, every year there are 11 suicide attempts by women due to cyber violence. By contrast, in 2008 this number stood at 8 revealing a sharp increase in the trend. Needless to mention, the official statistics is just the tip of the iceberg. The number of unreported cases far outweighs the reported ones [11]. Every year there are 11 suicide attempts by women due to cyber violence.

Legal Remedy

The Information and Communication Technology Act was enacted in 2006 for the purpose of cyber security and prevention, investigation and prosecution of cybercrime. On the other hand, the 'Cyber ​​Security Act' was enacted in 2015 for the same purpose. The latest Digital Security Act was enacted in 2016. Section 14 of the Cyber ​​Security Act stipulates that if a person intentionally takes and publishes a personal (intimate) photograph without the permission of another person, he or she may be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment or a fine not exceeding BDT 10 lakh or both. On the other hand, if a person sends an electronic message along with the sender with the intention of cheating which materially misrepresents and harms the person concerned, he will be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or a fine not exceeding BDT 3 lakh or both. In addition, under Section 15 of the Act, anyone who stores child pornography or child pornography on a computer or computer system is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to a fine not exceeding BDT. 1 million or both. On the other hand, the Digital Security Act, 2018 has discussed various penal provisions to prevent cybercrime. Section 28 of the Act states that if a person is found guilty of committing a cyber terrorist act, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years or with a fine not exceeding BDT 1 crore or with both. Similarly, Article 27 of the Act states that anyone who makes a comment that offends religious values ​​on a website or in an electronic format will be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or with a fine not exceeding BDT 10 lakh or both. The Digital Security Act discourages individuals from making comments that are defamatory or insulting to others. Nevertheless, if any person publishes or disseminates defamatory information, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or with a fine not exceeding BDT 5 lakh rupees or with both under section 29 of this Act. In addition, under section 34 of the law, if a person hacks, it will be considered a crime. He will also be sentenced to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment or a fine of not more than BDT 1 crore or both for committing the crime. [12]

Police Cyber Support for Women

An official Facebook page called 'Police Cyber ​​Support for Women' has been launched today so that women victims of cybercrimes can easily and fearlessly lodge complaints and seek redress. Inaugurating the new service at the police headquarters, IGP Benazir Ahmed said that the Digital Security Act, Pornography Control Act, ICT Act, Telecommunication Act --- a total of 6,099 cases have been registered in Bangladesh so far, most of the victims being women. A video of the event has been posted on the Facebook page of Bangladesh Police, where IGP Mr. Ahmed said, "But in most cases of cybercrime, women do not complain about the crime against them. We have set up an all-women unit so that they can complain without hesitation." [13]

How Will This Unit Work?

“Police Cyber ​​Support for Women” This is an information sharing service, where female members of the police will be present at all levels of officers including receiving complaints, investigating and giving advice. In this case, the complainant woman will be able to give information about the crime committed against her and seek redressed even if she keeps her identity secret. The police will help the victim to take necessary legal action. Along with that, he will be given cyber awareness advice. To go through the legal process, the police have assured maximum confidentiality in case of non-disclosure of the identity of the complainant. [14]

What Crimes Can Be Reported?

Police say most of the cyber-crimes committed by women in Bangladesh are between the ages of 18 and 24. The bulk of the complaints are about various forms of online fraud or blackmailing. [15] Under the new service, women will be able to report all kinds of crimes faced by the police in the cyber world. The notable crimes that women suffer in Bangladesh and the crimes that have been mentioned to be prosecuted are:

• Spreading personal photos, videos 

• Facebook ID hacked 

• Threats to spread personal photos, videos Collect money by threatening to spread pictures and videos 

• Blackmailing Threats to spread by editing pictures or videos

• Super Impose Pictures 

• Pornography 

• Creating offensive content or fake IDs with images 

• Cyber bullying 

• Spread the phone number 

• Sending harassing SMS, mail or links

How To Report?

To lodge a complaint with this new unit, a victim can lodge a complaint by email or hotline number from anywhere in the country. The police can be contacted in the following ways to lodge a complaint to:

• Police Cyber Support for Women PCSW will be reported with a message on the Facebook page;

• cybersupport.women@police.gov.bd can be emailed to this address 

• Complaints can be lodged by calling the police headquarters on 01320-000888 

• Complaints can also be made by calling the hot-line number 999

Although the ICT Act was amended in 2013, there is still controversy over Section 57 of the Act because section 57 has added all the issues, which have no clear explanation in the law as a result; the law remains open to arbitrary use. There are allegations that the police officers involved in the investigation of cases in the police station do not have much expertise in cybercrime. [16] That is why the question of how ready the police are to deal with technology-savvy criminals has become a big question. The study found that 39 percent of the victims went to the police station but did not get the expected results. Due to lack of skills, many police officers have to struggle to investigate cybercrime cases. Also, the controversial post may go viral within the time of investigating the allegations. In that case, no work is done even after reporting in addition, the victims are suffering indefinitely as they are permanently left on Google.

Challenges

Experts say the nature of crime is changing in the domestic and international context. The big question is how ready the police are to deal with such a technology-savvy criminal. Senior officials in various units of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) also say that dealing with cyber criminals and advancing technology-based policing is a big challenge for law enforcement agencies in the future. In particular, there is no alternative to technology-based policing to eradicate militancy. Analyzing the crime data of DMP, it is seen that the number of rapes, child abuse and various incidents of police being attacked in the city is increasing. Cybercrime is increasing at an alarming rate in the capital. In 2016 alone, there were 246 cases of cybercrime in the capital. In 2016, this number was 221; 189 in 2015. Eighty percent of cybercrime victims in the capital are women. Most of the victims are between the ages of 18-25. DMP Commissioner Ashaduzzaman Mia told Samakal that there is no alternative to using new technology in modern policing. In the meantime, using digital technology, the police are providing services to the city dwellers in various ways. DMP will be more technology dependent to ensure crime control and public service. Alimuzzaman, DC of the Cyber ​​Security and Crime Division of the police told Samakal that the scope of cybercrime is increasing day by day. Future plans have been formulated to address these challenges. If this plan is implemented, new crimes can be tackled. Rape and child abuse on the rise in DMP: Reviewing the crime data of Dhaka Metropolitan Police for the last five years, it is seen that the incidents of rape and child abuse are on the rise. In the last five years (2013-16), there have been 1,558 incidents of rape in the capital. 272 people were raped in 2013, 28 in 2014, 316 in 2015, 325 in 2016 and 365 in 2016. Compared to 2013, the number of rape cases in Dhaka has increased by 113 in 2016. Besides, 952 children have been tortured in five years. In 2013, 144 children were abused, in 2014, 183 people, in 2015, 16 people, in 2016, 160 people and in 2016, 26 children were abused. In 2017, the number of cases of child abuse has increased by 124 in five years. Apart from rape, 5,620 women have been tortured for other reasons in the last five years - 1,225 in 2013, 1,174 in 2014, 1,046 in 2015, 1,146 in 2016 and 1,137 in 2016. The number of cases of violence against women has increased in 2016 and 2017. Apart from this, the number of drug dealers and users has also increased. In 2013, there were 7,926 drug-related cases. In 2017, it almost doubled to 13,636. In 2014, there were 7,083 drug cases, in 2015 there were 8,365 cases and in 2016 there were 9,626 drug related cases. The number of murders in Dhaka has increased last year: The analysis of the data of the last five years shows that the number of murders in the capital has been gradually decreasing from 2013 to 2018. However, in 2016 it has increased again. In the last five years, there were 1,154 murders in Dhaka. Of these, 260 were in 2013, 262 in 2014, 239 in 2015, 165 in 2016 and 218 in 2016. The statistics show that although the number of robberies increased in 2014 compared to 2013, it has gradually decreased since then. There have been 1,126 robberies in the capital in five years. Of these, 26 were in 2013, 312 in 2014, 250 in 2015, 155 in 2016 and 123 in 2016. Kidnappings increased from 2013 to 2014. 175 people were abducted in 2013 and 18 in 2014. However, it has gradually decreased since then. There were 146 abductions in 2015, 103 in 2016 and 65 in 2016. Increasing incidents of police attacks: In the five years from 2013 to 2016, 628 police personnel were attacked in various attacks including militant attacks and political incidents. As seen, attacks on police have sometimes increased, sometimes decreased. However, in these five years, the highest number of such attacks was in 2013. In that year 203 people, in 2014 104 people, in 2015 116 people, in 2016 60 people, in 2016 132 people were victims of various attacks. Two thousand 939 houses have been stolen in Dhaka in five years. However, the number of car thefts has decreased in Dhaka at this time. The victims of cybercrime are mostly young women: starting from young people, people of different ages are being attacked by cybercrime every day. Cyber ​​criminals are harassing by opening fake IDs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, Skype, various online portals including social media, spreading false defamatory information on blogs, sending obscene pictures, videos and messages in various apps. Phishing is also being done by hacking other people's IDs. A police study of 522 victims of cybercriminals found that 80 percent of the victims were women. 58 percent of them are women under 25 years of age. Types of cybercrimes include militancy of one per cent, extortion of seven per cent, cyber pornography of 14 per cent, hacking of 20 per cent, defamation of 16 per cent, fake IDs of 20 per cent and others of six per cent. Fifty-eight percent of cybercrime victims are victims of defamatory criminals by hacking fake IDs and IDs. Challenges of the concerned department in cybercrime investigation: Identifying, arresting and proving allegations of cyber criminals is time consuming and quite challenging for the cyber security and crime department. These challenges include lack of Mutual Legal Assistant Treaty (MLAT) with different countries, negligence on the part of Internet service providers in maintaining log data, failure to report organized crime in a timely manner and awareness among digital technology users.

However, the use of technology has grown exponentially and will continue to do so in the future. In that case, there is no alternative to enhancing technical skills to avoid online violence. The Take Back the Tech activity thinks that since the education system is now dependent on online, the place of awareness must start from here. We think, it is important to make online-based skills and awareness activities compulsory from school level. If necessary, it needs to be included in the textbook. Strict monitoring system is required to ensure free use of technology. 

Awareness activities at school, college and university level need to be further strengthened. Ensuring the enactment and implementation of strict laws against violence. Change in social attitudes towards women.

Among the cybercrimes, harassment of women through social media is the main one usually they are harassed with distorted pictures or ugly posts about them Apart from this, there are various crimes including fraud, ID hacking and threats young people are also involved in this crime. There are ICT Act and Pornography Act to prevent cybercrime However, many, especially women, do not want to go to the legal remedy, even if they complain, do not want to file case social factors are the main reason for this.

1. Moore, R. (2005). Cybercrime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime. Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing.

2. Halder, D. and Jaishankar, K. (2011). Cybercrime and the Victimization of Women: Laws, Rights and Regulations. Hershey, PA, USA: IGI Global. ISBN 97-1-80970-830-9. [Archived on the Web Back Machine on October 8, 2014].

3. Ibid.

4. BBC Bangla. (2020, May 26).

5. Preetha, S.S. (2015, May 16). Digital Sexual Harassment in Digital Bangladesh. The Daily Star.

6. Chowdhury, S. (2016). Proceeding from BLAST’95: Report of Expert Consultation Responding to Violence against Women and Girls in the Cyber Age.

7. Abir, M. (2015, October 10). Monograph on Cyber Crime Relating to Women Molestation: Conducting the Existing Laws of Bangladesh and Social Values and Views. Honors Thesis. Chittagong: Faculty of Law, International Islamic University Chittagong.

8. The Daily Prothom Alo. (2015, October 6).

9. The Daily Prothom Alo. (2015, October 6).

10. Karaman, S. (2017, November 29). Women Support Each Other in the Face of Harassment Online, but Policy Reform is Needed. The LSE Women, Peace and Security Blog. London: The London School of Economics and Political Science. Available at: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2017/11/29/women-support-each-other-in-the-face-of-harassment-online-but-policy-reform-is-needed.

11. BNWLA. (2014). Survey on Psychological Health of Women. Dhaka: Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association.

12. MJF. (2014). Report on Porn Addicted Teenagers of Bangladesh. Dhaka: Manusher Jonno Foundation.

13. USSD. (2017). Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2016. Washington, DC: US Department of State. Available at: https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2016humanrightsreport/index.htm.

14. Zaman, S. et al. (2017). Legal Action on Cyber Violence Against Women. Dhaka: Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST). Available at: https://www.blast.org.bd/content/publications/Cyber-violence.pdf.

15. The Information and Communication Act-2006.

16. Digital Security Act-2018.