Cybersecurity Through an Intersectional Lens: Survivors’ Responses to Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence in India

Cybersecurity, often understood as practices to anticipate digital threats, has been critiqued by feminist theorists because of its neglect of gender-based violence against women. In this paper, we argue for ‘safety by design’ on social media, addressing socio-cultural and contextual nuances of India. Based on semi-structured interviews with 20 Indian women survivors of technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV), we highlight how intersectional identities shape women’s responses to TFSV. We call for platforms to incorporate these cultural and intersectional nuances into their security mechanisms to create equitable online spaces and mitigate intersectional digital vulnerabilities.