Intersecting Frontiers: Unravelling Legal Complexities, and Social Challenges in Combatting Online Sextortion Against Women in Bangladesh

• In Event: Cybercrime Working Group - Responses to cybercrime 1

Abstract

This paper highlights the experience and impact of the use of digital communication technology to facilitate sexual violence, abuse, and extortion in Bangladesh. In this digital era, online sextortion refers to (Patchin & Hinduja, 2020) “the threatened dissemination of explicit, intimate, or embarrassing images of a sexual nature without consent, usually to procure additional images, sexual acts, money, or something else.” The Police Cyber Support for Women, a dedicated police unit in Bangladesh, reported receiving 10,094 complaints related to technology-based crimes against women from November 2022 to 2023 that included sextortion and spreading sexual content. Regrettably, many victims were unwilling to pursue legal recourse against the perpetrators. This paper explored the obstacles to prosecuting offenders by conducting more than fifteen in-depth interviews with victims of online sextortion, NGO members, police, and prosecutors. The findings reveal three substantial concerns. First is the intricacy of relevant legislation, which impedes the prosecution of perpetrators and complicates the victims' journey through the criminal justice system. Second are the social obstacles that victims encounter, which deter them from taking formal legal action against their abusers. The lack of technological cooperation from other nations and the regulatory bodies of social media platforms is an additional significant concern. The findings highlight the need to develop effective interventions for each stage of the victim’s journey through the criminal justice system that are sensitive to the socioeconomic circumstances of Bangladesh and in accordance with the best practices of developed nations.

Author

• Monira Nazmi Jahan, University of Manchester, UK