Participation of Women in Student Activism amidst the Menace of Online Harassment and Media Trial: A Study of Selected Central Universities in Delhi

Abstract

Student activism involves the participation of students in collective action to strive for the rights and interests of the student community. It also makes an attempt to usher progressive social change in society at large. India has a rich history of student activism as students actively took part in the freedom struggle and stood at the forefront of the Independence movement. Taking that legacy forward, contemporary social movements in recent times have seen huge participation of students with many such national movements actually emanating from University campuses and being student led. The Fee Must Fall movement which started from Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Anti-CAA/NRC movement with its epicentre at Jamia Millia Islamia and the Pinjra Tod movement spread across university campuses in India are some of the contemporary movements which have been led by students and a key aspect of all these movements have been the huge participation of women students in them. In fact, women students were at the forefront of these movements and many women students emerged as leaders in their own right after these movements. The increasing popularity of these women students has also led to a sustained media trial and online hate and slander campaign against them by online trolls and people of opposing ideologies. The scenario is so grim that they have been even put up for auction on sexist hate applications like Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai. The continuous online harassment hurled at these women student activists has also served as a foundation for violent physical and sexual attacks on them. This article highlights the experiences of prominent women student activists from the three central universities in Delhi namely Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia and University of Delhi. It lays special emphasis on the menace of online harassment and media trial faced by women student activists. It also highlights the struggles and resilience of these women student activists who are trying to usher a positive change in the society at the expense of their own mental health, physical health and safety.