This blog is authored by K. Bavana and Sathika R, 4th-year students of Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai.
INTRODUCTION
Man is a social animal. Although he is born as an individual, his life is dependent on social interactions, which start with his family. As he grows older, he comes into touch with other members of society, and the process of getting to know one another begins. Every member of the group, no matter how little or large is eager to learn more about the other members. They’ll be curious about his overall socioeconomic level, his sense of self, his attitude toward them, his competency, and his trustworthiness, among other things. Although some of this knowledge appears to be sought almost as a goal in and of itself, it is typically for very practical reasons.
Today, the world is growing faster as we can observe changes now and then. But as we come across wicked types of crimes in our society, we can realize that our society is lacking a vital change. The media of today is filled with cases revealing the reality of growing crime against women in our country. Many laws have been enforced to protect women yet they fall prey to such felonies. One such offence is the act of Voyeurism which lays the basis for further crucial offences. Due to the development of technology, the use of smartphones and an internet connection constituted a life-and-death commination to the privacy of women. The present article deals with the concept of electronic voyeurism concerning a very important fundamental right i.e. Right to Privacy.
VOYEURSIM
The term voyeur is derived from the French word Voir, which means “to view.” It was first used in the English language in the twentieth century. A voyeur is someone who watches or spies on other people, usually doing activities they don’t want to be seen doing, or someone who enjoys hearing about others’ private lives. Voyeurism victims are unaware that they are being watched, videotaped, or photographed because they assume they are in perfect privacy. Another key reason is that they have not given their agreement to such acts. The individual who engages in voyeurism is known as a ‘voyeur’ or a ‘peeping tom.’[1]
Gender has played a crucial part in incidents of voyeurism surveillance. It is apparent that women have control over their gazes, and that they may fight oppression through both direct eye contact and digitally mediated gazes. Nonetheless, the female body might be considered to be an object of attention in a different way than the male body. This also applies to ladies who are being watched by a security camera. Women are more likely to be targeted for “voyeuristic motives” than males, even though men are more likely to be targeted in general.[2] Excerpts from the newspapers today illustrate the reality of rising crime against women in India. Despite having the same basic rights as males and even certain particular rules that allow positive discrimination for the advancement of their position and the protection of biases against them, women are nonetheless victims of such crimes. Voyeurism is an example of a crime against women that can serve as a springboard for more serious crimes. Voyeurism instances are increasing year after year in India.
ELECTRONIC VOYEURISM
Every day, technology evolves in our electronic age. The proliferation of voyeuristic culture among the masses has been greatly aided by the confluence of new technologies and image-making sites such as digital photography and video, the Internet, CCTV, camera phones, webcams, reality TV, and so on. While technology has grown in leaps and bounds, there has been a paucity of meaningful legislation to govern the usage of new generation devices. This alone has prepared the path for an upsurge in cyber-sex crimes. Sexual harassment of women, outraging a woman’s modesty, and rape are only a few of the sex crimes done against women in India.
The term “electronic harassment” refers to a new type of threatening behaviour that occurs in the workplace. The perpetrators make use of company resources to harass coworkers, breach their privacy, and even follow their whereabouts. Electronic harassment may affect everyone who gets an email or uses the internet. Cyberstalking may be done in a variety of ways. One of the most prevalent kinds of harassment is unsolicited email, which includes hate, profane, or threatening messages. Victims of live chat harassment are directly abused through technological sabotage. Cyberstalkers might utilize the internet to disseminate malicious rumours via bulletin boards. Mail bombs, mailing the victim virile, and computerized junk mail are more complicated kinds of harassment.[3] Sex recordings and pornographic video CDs for sale on the internet reveal major cultural divides in India. These occurrences are terrifying, horrible, and perverse.
RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND ELECTRONIC VOYEURISM
Although electronic/cyber voyeurism is a recent addition to this list, it has the potential to have a more severe effect on the victim than the other crimes against women. It is capable of hurting the victim emotionally and mentally, even though it does not always have a direct physical consequence. The criminal does not even have to be close to the victim when committing the offence, which allows offenders to avoid liability in some cases. The worldwide distribution of such indecent photographs with the press of a button might be fatal and such instances torture women. Furthermore, as stated in the case of KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), [4] the right to privacy is one of the fundamental rights as it is enshrined under Article 21. [5]
Some landmark judgments that deal with the Right to Privacy in connection with the concept of Electronic Voyeurism are:
- In the case of Rahul v. State, 2020, [6] the High Court held that the accused should be convicted for the offence of rape and video graphing the same while clicking the nude images of the victim.
- In a present case, a male nurse from Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Trauma and Orthopedics recorded the videos of the nurses while they were changing clothes in the changing room before going for an operation. The accused is booked under Section 354C of the IPC. [7]
Both the above-mentioned cases deal with the concept of electronic voyeurism and we can observe that these Penal Acts contra verse with one’s privacy.
ELECTRONIC VOYEURISM AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000
As a result, Section 66-E [8] was incorporated into the IT Act, 2000, which criminalizes all acts such as transmitting, recording, capturing, recording of obscenity, and capturing a sexually explicit act. The Information Technology Act of 2000, which provides the legal foundation for e-commerce in India, was passed by the Indian Parliament to combat cybercrime. On June 9, 2000, the President of India gave his assent to the Act, and it became law. According to Section 66E of the IT Act, if a person willingly, i.e., intentionally or knowingly records, publishes, or transmits an image of a person’s private parts and the person does not consent to any of the activities, this section applies. This Act infringes on the victim’s privacy, and the criminal faces a maximum sentence of three years of imprisonment or a fine of Rs. 2 lakh, or both.
WAYS TO TACKLE ELECTRONIC VOYEURISM
- Women’s groups that work toward women’s empowerment or assist promote knowledge should be supported so that women are aware of their rights and opportunities.
- The courts should guarantee that these cases be resolved quickly so that the victim is not harassed for an extended length of time and the perpetrator is put behind bars as soon as possible.
- Some offenders develop an obsession with voyeurism and derive sexual pleasure from it. As a result, they need to be adequately counselled about their conduct and assisted in controlling their sexual urges. To control such cravings, psychotherapy, support groups, and medication might be used.
- The law of voyeurism is continuously evolving, and there are significant gaps in it. To begin with, the definition excludes morphed or photoshopped photographs or films of the victim that the criminal creates by transposing the victim’s face from a non-intimate photo to any obscene image or video. This will have the same devastating effect on the victim as any other voyeuristic content, but it does not fit under the definition of voyeurism. Second, the provision is not gender-neutral, failing to acknowledge that males can also be victims of voyeurism. As a result, the legislation must close these two loopholes so that perpetrators are held accountable and incidences of voyeurism are reduced.
CONCLUSION
Thus, the most important step in preventing voyeurism is to raise public awareness. The general public should be informed about voyeurism legislation so that not only the victim understands how to assert her right, but also the prospective offender is aware of the potential repercussions of such heinous conduct. Cyber cells can be set up to track down sites that post voyeuristic content, and action can be made to remove such films from the internet, ensuring that voyeurism is not encouraged and the victim’s reputation is not harmed.
Image Credits: Pexels Free Photo.
LAW AND TECH TIMES 