5 Cases When Women Have Been Harassed on Instagram

There appear to be new social media networks emerging every second. Every day new virtual platforms are created to connect us with others. However, for some men, the rise in the usage of social media only means more opportunities to stalk and harass women. Nowadays, cybercrime against women has been spreading like wildfire. Knowing how often internet harassment of women has grown is startling.

Receiving obscene and threatening messages can be extremely upsetting for the recipient and lead to stress and harm. Every other day, Instagram is introducing new 'Privacy' features, yet these features just seem to enable guys to find creative new methods of harassing women.

For example, Instagram messaging has a 'vanish mode' where a picture is visible momentarily before disappearing - without being seen. Reporting such texts might be challenging because there is no trace of abusive communication left. Moreover, phone calls may be made through direct messages on Instagram to women by complete strangers. Below is a list of 5 cases where women have been harassed on Instagram.

Harassment Cases On Instagram

1. Pradeep Sharma, a 32-year-old interior designer, was recently taken into custody by Delhi Police on suspicion of stalking and harassing women online. It is astonishing to learn that the authorities uncovered more than 50 women’s photos and videos on his phone. After being detained on Saturday, Pradeep Sharma's phone and SIM card are currently in custody. The man used to pose as a girl on social media and communicate with men online to trick them into giving him intimate pictures of their girlfriends. Pradeep Sharma allegedly used to blackmail and threaten the girls into giving him additional intimate pictures and videos by using their personal pictures against them. According to deputy police commissioner Sagar Singh Kalsi, the accused has been married for the last eight years and has a son but is obsessed with young women.

2. Rise in sextortion cases in Pune. In Pune, more than 1,400 instances of 'sextortion' have been documented in 2022. In Pune, more than 1,400 instances of "sextortion" have been documented as of 2022. Sextortion is threatening to post victims’ private photos or videos online to obtain money or sexual favours from them. The rise in sextortion instances can be ascribed to growing social media usage. Online scammers threatened to publish compromising pictures and blackmailed a 19-year-old commerce student from Dattawadi in Pune. He gave in to their demands and paid them Rs 4,500, but on September 28, 2022, he committed suicide as he could no longer handle the stress All of these victims have been males, even older men. According to the authorities, these cyber criminals use their female accomplices to target male victims by initiating friendly and flirtatious texts.

3. A 24-year-old Amraiwadi (Ahmedabad), resident filed a legal complaint against a man who identified himself as Ajay on May 20, 2022. The girl, a student of physical education, said that Ajay lived in Surendarnagar. The culprit Ajay, who was harassing the woman, was taken into custody by the cybercrime squad. The woman said that Ajay snapped many pictures of her when they first met. Ajay, according to her, would visit Ahmedabad and pressure her to meet him. Ajay allegedly threatened to consume acid if she ever became engaged to someone else. The complaint claims that Ajay persisted in harassing her even after she deleted her Instagram account and created a new one.

4. A 23-year-old Ghodasar, Ahmedabad, resident submitted another complaint, similar to the last one. The woman claimed that she was the target of online stalking. She said she was a computer science student who had been using Snapchat. After receiving messages from an unknown user, she deactivated her account. On June 22, 2022, she switched to Instagram and received a message from the ID of her younger sister. Later, she discovered that the user was pretending to be her sister. The woman said that the unknown individual had even used pictures of her and her sister.

5. High-profile female Instagram users are also not spared from such harassment. In 2022, five prominent women collaborated with The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a non-profit organisation dedicated to combating online discrimination and false information, to analyse more than 8,717 direct messages they had received. According to the research, Instagram has neglected to address the abuse and the fundamental challenges high-profile women on the Instagram face. Nicola Thorp, a writer, said in 2020 that she had received rape threats via Instagram direct messaging and that the company had provided her with zero assistance.

Suggested reading: Constance Wu’s Attempt At Self-Harm Tells How Dangerous Social Media Harassment Can Be