India CJP protests: Young women face online harassment and abuse

I’m in my mid-20s. I had been posting about the protests from the beginning, but 20 July was the first time I attended one.

After the baton charge that day and the internet shutdown around the protest site, I went home and started sharing first-person accounts on Instagram.

I also helped organise food, aid and volunteers. I thought I was just helping and didn’t think of it as political.

But the hate started almost immediately.

I was slut-shamed and I was attacked for questioning the prime minister’s comments, external after the protest ended. [Modi said he forgave the children who had abused him, urging society to do the same rather than punish them or drag them through the courts.]

I have lost count of the number of messages I have deleted and people I have blocked. But the comments keep coming.

As a content creator, I already live with this feeling of constantly being watched. Every word I say is scrutinised, mostly by men.

When I first started creating content, I would block men if they made me feel uncomfortable. Over time, the algorithm started pushing my content towards more women. I believe that has shielded me from abuse compared with many other female creators.

And still, this happened.

My mother stopped reading the comments on my posts long ago. She said she couldn’t bear the things strangers were saying about her daughter. I understood. What parent wouldn’t be frightened by that?

As a woman in India, you grow up with fear. You’re told not to stay out late, to watch where you go, who you’re with and how you’ll get home. You learn early that your safety is something you must constantly think about.

When you have a voice online, that fear doesn’t disappear. It just follows you there.