THEY ARE WATCHING HER: WOMEN UNDER DIGITAL EYES
You opened your phone, clicked a picture, tagged the location, and posted it on Instagram. Wait, you just committed a crime. And if you are wondering how, then the answer is existing and being a woman.
It is very simple to post yourself on a social media app, but suddenly everything starts going wrong. Your face gets called ugly, your skin gets judged, and your body is treated like it’s open for comments. Strangers online decide if you look good enough, fit their beauty rules, or even deserve respect.
When we examine the past and present for women, one thing is clear. Earlier, violence came through slaps, fists, and kicks. Today, it comes through screens. It may not leave visible marks, but it still hurts just as much. Violence hasn’t stopped. It has only changed its form. Studies show that up to 58% of women and 20% of young girls face some form of digital violence, though the true scale remains underreported and insufficiently recognized.
It’s painful to see that this happens to everyone. Little girls, students, and older women — no one is spared. Any woman, at any stage of her life, can become a target of this kind of judgment and abuse. Girls and adolescents are especially vulnerable, facing cyberbullying, online dating abuse, and grooming in online spaces.
Disturbingly, 90 to 95% of all deepfakes online are sexualized images of women, with verified AI-generated child sexual abuse material seeing a 380% increase in 2024 from 2023. This data is enough to prove the substantial level of security threats to women.
At the end of the day, women online are constantly being watched, living with an unsaid fear, and thinking twice before even using something as normal as their phone.