Free «Cyber Crime Briefing» Essay

Cyber crime has been on the rise lately. The issue about women and cyber crime has come up really thick and fast. The whole issue has created lots of questions regarding online safety. This is after a series of events all over the world that were related to cyber crime.

Introduction and Background

Cyber crime is also known as computer crime. It involves the use of a computer and a network. A computer may be used in commission of the crime or it might be the target. The use of cyber space and its attendant features of hostility continue to influence both negatively and positively on political, social, cultural and economic aspect of each society. While it has provided women with secure tools and space to express themselves, it has also been used to commit violence against them. Internet and mobile phones usage in trafficking, abuse, stalking, intimidating and humiliating women is palpable in our society. Lack of cyber security legislation has enhanced violence against women as it is difficult to penalize the culprit. With the increase in internet usage, it has become a necessity to have workable policies in place to deal with this vice.

Current Status

95% of the behaviors noted and recorded as cyber crime are directed towards women. They range from abusive language, aggressive behaviors, harassments as well as sending of denigrating images. For example, cyber stalkers use the internet to terrorize their target. They may send repeated, threatening, or harassing message by a simple click of a button. For example, in a recent case in California a man was jailed for using the internet to solicit the raping of a girl. The man terrorized his victim because she had previously rejected his romantic advances. He used online bulletin boards and internet chat rooms to post messages along with both her telephone number and address. He impersonated the victim and posted messages that she fantasized of being raped. This led to some men walking to the ladies house and saying they wanted to rape her. Stalking can be in form of email, internet, or computer stalking (controlling another person’s computer without their permission).

This is not the only kind of cybercrime case against women. It also involves abusing, trafficking and intimidating women. Mostly, these cases involve partners or former partners trying to revenge. It may also involve a former employee trying to get some kind of revenge though one may be stalked by an absolute stranger. As the government is trying to lay down infrastructures that will help in dealing with the vice, some stalkers have found other ways. They are increasingly using highly sophisticated means to get to their victims. They are currently using websites, chat rooms, blogs, and discussion forums to commit the crime. Though the cases are on the decrease, some are still being reported. Although most of the stalkers are predominantly men, women also contribute in the vices. Women consists about twenty eight percent of stalkers. Some of the motivators are sexual harassment, obsession for love, ego and power trips, revenge and hate, just to mention but a few. These behaviors mostly have adverse effects on the victims which might be social or economic.

Recommendation and Conclusion

To curb cyber crime, important measures have been put in place. For instance, countries with small internet users have been forced to adopt the global dimension of cyber crime. The global dimension of cyber crime shows that every country has a role to play in the eradication of all cyber connected crimes. There are some more measures that can be taken. For instance, developers may be encouraged to produce fitting programs that create secure empowering spaces online mostly for women. This will enhance the participation of the minority and marginalized groups. These processes can be facilitated if the government takes legislative measures. This should help in protecting human rights online and enhance capacity to foster awareness at all levels of ICTs.

Staying away from social networks is another approach that can be used as a social strategy against cyber crime. This will help keep the marginalized groups from participating in committing the crime.