Women are often revered across cultures, yet continue to sit at the heart of stigma, taboos and bias, a reality that is intensifying in the digital age. According to a 2025 study by UN Women across 12 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, more than 50% of women over the age of 18 have experienced technology-facilitated abuse.

In India, the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) registered a 40% surge in complaints related to Non-Consensual Intimate Images (NCII) in 2025. In parts of the Arab states, almost 60% of women have gone off the grid from digital spaces due to online harms.

These numbers are not mere statistics; they signal a structural digital gender divide. Addressing this imbalance requires participation and leadership beyond protection from the able hands of those most impacted.

In today’s digital reality, ensuring online safety and privacy requires a balanced focus on three interconnected pillars- access, awareness, and autonomy.

• Access to conducive learning atmosphere lowers entry barriers into cybersecurity and data privacy domains.
• Awareness ensures women are present in policy conversations and technical deliberations.
• Autonomy enables influencing decision-making, shape safeguards, and design resilient systems.

When women transition from being primary targets of digital abuse to becoming cybersecurity professionals and privacy leaders, the ecosystem becomes more empathetic and effective. Representation at decision-making tables directly shapes how threats are identified, mitigated, and prevented.

Focused interventions are therefore critical, particularly for women from underserved communities. Skilling initiatives play a foundational role in building leadership pipelines. One such intervention is the Cyber Vaahini program, launched in 2024 by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Kyndryl Foundation. Designed to bring cybersecurity and privacy education to women from tier-II and tier-III cities across India, the four-month training program is delivered without any incurred fee and combines theory, case studies, practical hands-on learning and project-based exposure.

Similarly, past initiatives by DSCI like CyberShikshaa (2018–2024), implemented in partnership from Microsoft under the Information Security Awareness (ISEA) Project of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), strengthened women’s participation in cybersecurity through multiple sub-programs. These ranged from foundational training for early-career professionals to sector-specific modules in BFSI and AI/ML, and support for women returning from career breaks.

SIM binding, while touted as a digital security measure, has some limitations. The rise of dual-SIM smartphones in India complicates app authentication, as users often switch SIMs for better rates, leading to confusion about which SIM is bound to an app. Typically, the primary SIM is used, but this requires frequent re-authentication when switching.

Collectively, these programs have placed over 800 students in industry-leading organizations including Standard Chartered, Microsoft, EY, KPMG, Accenture, Oracle, PwC, BluSapphire and Wipro, among others. Beyond employment outcomes, beneficiaries have described these programs as ‘eye-openers’ that helped them understand cybersecurity and its real-world implications.

These initiatives are not limited to workforce development but act as precursor to the creation of future cybersecurity architects, leaders, and privacy professionals who will shape digital safety frameworks from within the ecosystem.

Secondly, this evolution of leadership and regulatory safeguards must be in tandem. Recent policy measures in the country support structural commitment to digital safety. The Standard Operating Procedure to Curtail Dissemination of Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII) Content, issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, provides procedural guidance to individuals facing privacy violations due to NCII circulation.

Further, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026 notified by MeitY introduce compliance requirements for intermediaries offering Synthetically Generated Information (SGI) tools. These include mandatory labelling of all SGI through prominent visual or audio disclosures and embedding permanent metadata or technical provenance mechanisms.

The rules also require intermediaries to deploy reasonable safeguards to prevent SGI misuse that violates the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

In addition, the notified rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), guarantee individuals the right to erasure of personal data along with other prescribed rights to citizens in India. However, effective implementation of these measures depends on diverse cybersecurity and privacy leadership for comprehensive citizen protection.

Reducing the digital gender divide is not only about preventing harm but requires redistributing power within digital ecosystems. When women gain access to cybersecurity education, participate in shaping standards and exercise autonomy in decision-making roles, the digital space becomes more equal.

Such measures are, therefore, tantamount to provisions for access, awareness, and autonomy regarding the digital safety of every citizen. Hence, the resolve to reduce gendered digital divide is a sentiment that echoes this International Women’s Day, as equal participation across different spheres of the digital space is the right of every citizen.

Sources:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/faqs/digital-abuse-trolling-stalking-and-other-forms-of-technology-facilitated-violence-against-women

https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2025/11/a2c9500ef5f8b62a43bfc68747de592d.pdf

State of Women Privacy 2026; ; A Comprehensive Analysis of Women’s Digital Privacy, Data Protection Rights, and Emerging Challenges in the Digital Age; Published by Women Data Protection Foundation.

https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2024/06/2bf1f0e9f04e6fb4f8fef35e82c42aa5.pdf

https://egazette.gov.in/WriteReadData/2026/269993.pdf