ONLINE GENDER BASED VIOLENCE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
Gender-Based Violence, based on the words we can already tell what it is. So, according to unhcr.org, Gender-Based Violence refers to harmful acts directed at an individual based on their gender. The UNHCR emphasizes that the harmful act to an individual based on their gender is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power, and harmful norms. Gender-based violence (GBV) is a serious abuse of human rights and a life-threatening health and protection issue, as the era of the internet comes in, it appears to be Gender-Based Violence comes to the online platform as well. Just like real-life Gender-Based Violence, Online Gender-Based violence mostly happens on girls and women. There are many forms of Gender-Based violence that women face worldwide, such as online harassment, online rape, cyberstalking, and more. The Internet has become an important part of human life and a woman’s inability to feel safe is a distress to her freedom and to her basic human rights. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of violence is getting higher. This problem is often overlooked in discussions of violence against women. 24