Act against apps demeaning women, Shiv Sena MP tells Centre

Shiv Sena party symbol. File Pic

Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Friday urged IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to take strict action against certain apps that demean and target women. In a letter to the IT Minister, the Sena Rajya Sabha member said action against such apps would help protect the dignity of women.

She brought certain incidents in cyberspace to the minister's notice, including a live auction of women of a particular community on YouTube. More recently, she said, pictures of several women were uploaded without their knowledge or consent on an app called 'Sulli Deals' that had posted pictures of several women from various professions, including journalists, sourced from their social media websites.

"The women targeted on the app faced threats, embarrassment and harassment after their pictures had been put up without consent. The purpose of the app was to degrade and humiliate women belonging to a particular community. This horrifying incident has left the women scarred and troubled. Some of the women have since then deleted their social media accounts and many others said they were afraid of further harassment. The misuse of social and digital media to harass and attack the dignity of a woman is disheartening," she said.

Also Read: NCW writes to Delhi police head over website 'auctioning' Muslim women, seeks report within 10 days

Chaturvedi said in a country where women are already struggling with gender bias, these incidents yet again lay bare the protection and safety of women, especially in cyberspace. Though police in Delhi and Noida have registered cases, no real progress has been made so far, she added. "The lack of stringent and efficient preventive laws and punishments for such cases only motivates the perpetrators.

It pains me to see that hardly any movement with regards to this case has been taken as of now despite the seriousness of it. "Therefore, I request you to take urgent and strict actions to deal with such nuisance so as to protect the dignity of women in our society as any responsible government should," she told the minister The letter also comes in the wake of businessman Raj Kundra's arrest in a similar case in Mumbai.

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