Cyber Gender Harassment and Secondary Victimization: A Comparative Analysis of the United States, the UK, and India

Abstract

Gender harassment through cyberspace has become a common phenomenon in the internet era (Citron, 2009a). But harassment is worsened when victims face further victimization due to denial of justice at the hands of the criminal justice system. Countries such as the United States, the UK, and India have codified laws dealing with cybercrimes and cyber-harassment to protect the victim. Ironically, the same systems pave the way for secondary victimization. Citron (2009b) had pointed out that trivialization of the problems by laws or criminal justice systems further victimize the crime victim. The questions that arise from this are several. Why does the criminal justice system fail to help victims in certain cyber-harassment cases? How are the victims of such crimes dealt with by criminal justice systems and Internet Service Providers (ISPs)? What could be done to end this harassment? This article will try to answer these questions from a comparative perspective of the situations in the United States, the UK, and India.