‘Being vocal about political viewpoints seems like a luxury in a society where only individuals of a certain background are considered worthy of voicing their opinions. If you’re a woman or a minority and try to state a political opinion on a public platform, you face nothing but criticism and threats,’ Kristeen Gomes, 24, a Delhi-based psychologist, told FII.
Online spaces and social media are increasingly the site of public discourse and an integral avenue for political participation. However, when we consider gendered barriers to such participation, we must confront the issue of Hindutva misogyny and online abuse that stifles women’s participation in public and political life by making it a dangerous, harrowing ordeal.
Any woman who is politically active, publicly outspoken, or defies gendered expectations online has some experience with the relentless trolling and harassment of the Hindutva online machinery. Threats of sexual violence and death, slurs and name-calling, body shaming, non-consensual sharing of women’s pictures, sexualisation and objectification, and doxxing are all, unfortunately, quotidian experiences for Indian women on the internet.
However, the nature and extent of the political abuse women receive online is not merely determined by their political opinions or opposition to far-right politics; it is often inextricably tied to gender, and the intensity of such abuse is predicated on the social identities of the targets.
Beyond digital violence: a new form of political exclusion and sidelining
While the occurrence of such harassment is now common knowledge, we must start viewing it as more than just a form of digital violence and see it for what it really is – a means to keep women out of public and political life. This is done by dangling the prospect of large-scale harassment campaigns and threats before them, and forcing them to censor themselves, reduce their visibility online, and withdraw from political discourse for the sake of their safety and wellbeing.
This story was originally published in feminisminindia.com. Read the full story here.