Women on Covid lists get lewd calls and messages
Women are getting lewd calls and messages when they share their phone numbers to seek and offer pandemic-related help.
On April 15, Shasvathi Siva tweeted about how her number, shared on blood donation and social media groups, received obscene photos and video calls from strangers.
When she spoke about the harassment on Instagram, she ended up receiving more abuse from men.
With the second wave of the pandemic raging, many patients and families are turning to social media to search for medicines, oxygen, and even hospital beds.
Ambika Tandon, senior researcher, Centre for Internet and Society, says, “There are many stories of how prominent and outspoken women like journalists and activists have received hate speech and messages threatening violence.” What is shocking, she says, is not the harassment, but that it is not stopping even during a medical emergency.
Click to read the complete coverage in Deccan Herald on May 21, 2022.
