Gendered Cyber Insecurity: Between Legal Architecture and Lived Reality

Abstract

Cybersecurity, a foundation stone of the digital age, affects individuals across all demographics, yet its connection with gender is often unnoticed. The surge in importance of cybersecurity has not diminished the ever-present obstacles related to gender equality and the underrepresentation of women in this field. From online harassment to cyber-stalking, from cyber-bullying to hate speech, from threats to image-based abuse, from revenge pornography to discrimination, women and other marginalised genders experience heightened risk of cybersecurity. The gendered approach to cyber security is interconnected with the other aspects; complexities and needs of people based on gender, religion, race and sexual orientation. Gender-based violence is not a new phenomenon, but its migration to the digital world has magnified its scale and impact. The digital age has transformed how people interact, communicate, and conduct business. While the internet has provided numerous benefits, it has also given rise to new forms of crimes, particularly cybercrimes against women. These crimes not only invade the privacy of women but also threaten their safety, dignity, and mental well-being.
The rapid revolution in the IT industry, with a cornerstone of Artificial Intelligence, has affected the lives of individuals at large. People are more connected and engaged with each other on online platforms compared to physical interactions. These developments have assisted in some instances, but put privacy in danger. Women fear giving any of their details on any online platform due to the lack of security and privacy. Gender and cybersecurity are two correlated terms which have gained popularity in recent years. Privacy and security are still questioned in this era. Despite global progress and increased representation of women across various fields, this issue remains a major setback, limiting potential advancements in cybersecurity as a crucial societal factor. This imbalance deprives the field of talent and weakens its capacity to address new threats. In the field of cybersecurity specifically, according to figures from the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, that are based on a study carried out in 2019, women who work in cybersecurity represent only 24% of the total workforce globally.
Cybercrime against women has emerged as a critical concern within the United Nations system, particularly through the work of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Since its establishment in 1865, the ITU has addressed evolving technological risks from telegraphy to the internet age recognizing cybersecurity as foundational to a connected society. The proliferation of malware, cyber terrorism, and organized digital crime has intensified vulnerabilities, disproportionately affecting women online. The rise of cybercrimes against women in India has also prompted the development of a multi-layered legal framework. The Information Technology Act, 2000 criminalizes hacking, identity theft, and electronic stalking, while enabling specialized cybercrime investigation cells. The Indian Penal Code has been amended to address voyeurism, cyberstalking, and non-consensual dissemination of intimate material. Additionally, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 extends protection to online harassment within abusive relationships. Although this framework is normatively robust, enforcement deficits, limited institutional capacity, and low awareness among women continue to constrain effective access to justice and meaningful digital protection.
Despite this layered statutory architecture, the paper argues that the gap between law on the books and law in action remains significant. The existence of multiple statutes and institutional mechanisms inevitably raises a critical question: have these legal interventions meaningfully reduced cybercrimes against women, or are such offences continuing to escalate in scale? The available trends suggest that reported cases are rising year after year which partly due to increased awareness and reporting, but also because digital dependence has deepened across every sphere of life. In an era where education, employment, governance, finance, and even intimate relationships are mediated through technological platforms, disengagement from digital systems is neither feasible nor desirable. This structural dependence renders women simultaneously visible, accessible, and vulnerable in unprecedented ways. Also while dealing against cybercrime as a whole, the inquiry must move beyond statutory adequacy to assess whether institutions possess technological capacity, trained personnel, and gender-sensitive protocols, while critically examining accountability when violations arise externally or within power structures, complicating the assumption of the state as an unequivocal protective actor.
This paper thus moves beyond formal legal analysis to examine patterns of incidence, enforcement capacity, infrastructural preparedness, and systemic accountability. By situating cybercrime within broader structures of digital governance and gendered power relations, it seeks to evaluate whether women’s digital safety is substantively secured or remains an aspirational promise within an increasingly technologized society. Finally, the paper evaluates the effectiveness of existing cybersecurity frameworks themselves. Cybersecurity often operates reactively rather than preemptively, and rapid technological innovation frequently outpaces regulatory adaptation. The study therefore assesses whether current cybersecurity mechanisms function as meaningful deterrents or merely as post-facto response systems.

DOI - https://doi.org/10.65525/SVUP.9788199328631.2025.35-50