An increasing number of women activists in Nepal have reported online hate, abuse and even rape threats for raising their voice against widespread cases of rape and violence against women in the country.

Many activists in the past some months have come out on the streets to protest and have asked for justice following a rise in rape and murder cases of women and girls in the country. They have demanded the government to create a safer environment for them. But have instead faced online hate, rape threats, abuse, harassment, and in some cases their personal and private information, and even photos, posted online.

Speaking with the Kathmandu Post newspaper, Mohna Ansari, a former commissioner at the National Human Rights Commission, said that “extreme defaming and demeaning on social media of activists, especially youths, are remarkably common these days.

“These threats come from those who are not willing to see changes in our society and do not support inclusion and strongly possess patriarchal beliefs,” she added

“When young people and their perspectives are targeted, they will not have the courage to come out next time to speak up against discrimination.”

Anshu Khanal, a theatre artist, who has been very vocal and active at all the recent protests seeking justice for victims, is one of the activists to receive online abuse.

Though, she received accolades for her performance of a rape victim, who was murdered and her funeral procession taken around the city, she was stunned when she received abusive comments posted online.

“Though I used to get a lot of abusive comments earlier, those comments on the video were something beyond my imagination. It left me completely shattered,” said the 21-year-old.

According to the Amnesty International report, 2018, violence and abuse experienced by women are often sexist and misogynistic in nature.

Documenting women’s experience of violence and abuse on Twitter, the rights group, which has termed it ‘Toxic Twitter’, said such abuses on the microblogging site have become far too common for women.

They said the aim of violence and abuse is to create a hostile online environment for women with the goal of shaming, intimidating, degrading, belittling or silencing them.

In Nepal, 5,574 cases of online harassment were reported to the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police between 2016-17 and 2019-20.

According to Baburam Aryal, a lawyer who specialises in cyberlaw, as per Electronic Transactions Act-2008, a person can face a jail term of up to five years for cases of online harassment but proper implementation of the law is lacking.

“Besides, in Nepal, women don't usually file complaints of online harassment as the legal process is a bit cumbersome and women don't want to reveal their identity,” he was quoted by the Kathmandu Post.

“The police must be pressured to do their work sincerely when it comes to online harassment.”

According to a 2015 UN report Cyber Violence against Women and Girls: A Worldwide Wake-up Call, one in three women experience some form of violence in her lifetime and 73 percent of women have endured cyber violence. The report also states that women are 27 times more likely than men to be harassed.

Sudhamshu Dahal, assistant professor of new media and information technology at Kathmandu University School of Arts, said: “Social media gives people anonymity which gives such online abusers strength to continue harassing others.

“Until and unless efforts are made to rein these attacks on women, we won’t be seeing much change.”

Shristi Kolakshyapati Pradhan, a programme coordinator at the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC), a leading national organization that works to prevent violence against women, its causes and consequences, said they have found women “do not report cases of online abuse because first, they are not aware of the law, and secondly they do not believe they will get justice even after filing a complaint since women are re-victimised.”

While many feel that a massive awareness campaign is needed to protect girls and women from potential online abuses and to make laws more effective, some feel the problem is very deep-rooted in society due to the patriarchal mindset.