National Commission for Women’s cyber-safety programme to help females use digital space to upskill

The National Commission for Women Headquarters. File.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Seeking to empower women digitally, the National Commission for Women (NCW) is expanding the ambit of its cyber-security programme to enable females on using the digital space to enhance their career prospects, and use technology to their advantage.

The NCW on Tuesday, launched the latest 4.0 version of its ‘Digital Shakti’ programme, which was essentially dedicated to teach women to be safe online.

“Prevention is one bit. Major focus would be on skilling women. There is a huge skill gap globally among women. We aim to fill this gap,” said Major Vineet Kumar, founder and global president of CyberPeace Foundation, which is partnering with the NCW and Meta to implement the programme.

The Digital Shakti program was launched in 2018 essentially to train women fight cyber-crime. Through this project, over 3 lakh women across India have been made aware of the cyber safety tips and tricks, the reporting and redressal mechanisms, data privacy and the usage of technology, for their benefits.

The version aims to train one million women from schools, colleges and universities apart from housewives.

“The idea is to help women use the digital knowledge responsibly and support them if they have any business ideas for example for start-up companies,” Major Kumar said.

According to the NCW, India has the second largest internet-using population and the third highest number of bullying cases. Most of the incidents happen online. In the case of cyber-crime, statistics say 98% crimes are committed against women.

The NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said, “This new phase will prove to be a milestone in ensuring safe cyber spaces for women. Digital Shakti has been accelerating the digital participation of women and girls by training them to use technology to their advantage and to keep themselves safe online. I believe the project will continue to contribute towards the larger goal of fighting cyber violence against women and girls and make internet a safer space for them.”