当前位置：正文
luckywin Wildlife monitoring tech used to harass, spy on women in India
India map. – Wildlife monitoring technologies like camera traps and drones are being used to intimidate, harass, and even spy on women in India, researchers said Friday, November 22, 2024. INQUIRER FILES/STOCK PHOTO
PARIS, France — Camera traps, drones, and other technology for monitoring wildlife like tigers and elephants are being used to intimidate, harass, and even spy on women in India, researchers said Friday.
In one particularly egregious example, a photo of an autistic woman relieving herself in the forest was shared by local men on social media, prompting villagers to destroy nearby camera traps.
Article continues after this advertisementTrishant Simlai, a researcher at the UK’s Cambridge University, spent 14 months interviewing some 270 people who live near the Corbett Tiger Reserve in northern India.
FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION Australian, 2 others nabbed in Makati for depositing fake dollars GLOBALNATION P112 million found in safes of Bataan company tagged as Pogo GLOBALNATION Hontiveros warns gov’t officials ‘coaching’ illegal PogosFor women living in villages around the reserve, the forest has long been a space for “freedom and expression” away from the men in a “heavily conservative and patriarchal society,” Simlai told Agence France-Presse.
The women sing, talk about taboo subjects such as sex, and sometimes drink and smoke while collecting firewood and grass from the forest.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: India heatwave hits wildlife as thirsty monkeys drown in well
Article continues after this advertisementBut the introduction of camera traps, drones, and sound recorders as part of efforts to track and protect tigers and other wildlife has extended “the male gaze of the society into the forest,” Simlai said.
Article continues after this advertisementOn multiple occasions, drones were deliberately flown over the heads of women, forcing them to drop their firewood and flee for cover, according to a study led by Simlai in the journal Environment and Planning.
‘We are afraid’“We cannot walk in front of the cameras or sit in the area with our Kurtis (tunics) above our knees, we are afraid that we might get photographed or recorded in a wrong way,” a local woman was quoted in the study saying.
Article continues after this advertisementA forest ranger told the researchers that when a camera trap took a photo of a couple engaging in “romance” in the forest, “we immediately reported it to the police.”
In perhaps the most appalling example, a photo of an autistic woman from a marginalized caste relieving herself in the forest was inadvertently taken by a camera trap in 2017.
Young men appointed as temporary forest workers shared the photo on local Whatsapp and Facebook groups to “shame the woman,” Simlai said.
“We broke and set fire to every camera trap we could find after the daughter of our village was humiliated in such a brazen way,” one local told the researchers.
Aiming to avoid the cameras, some women have started roaming farther into the forest, which has the highest density of tigers in the world.
The women also sing less than they used to, which was used to deter animal attacks.
One local woman – who spoke about fear of cameras forcing her into “unfamiliar spaces” in 2019 – was killed by a tiger earlier this year, Simlai said.
Wildlife monitoring tech: ‘New ways to harass women’Another woman took advantage of the constant surveillance.
“Whenever her husband would beat her, she would run in front of the camera so that her husband did not follow her,” Simlai said.
READ: Indian state’s polygamy ban divides some Muslim women
Overall, “these technologies are actually very good” and are revolutionizing conservation efforts, Simlai emphasized.
But he called for more consultation with local communities about the technology, as well as more transparency and oversight from forest authorities, and sensitive training for local workers.
“A lot of that can be done by conservation organizations that – in the first instance – introduced these technologies to the government,” Sim added.
Rosaleen Duffy, a conservation expert at Sheffield University in the UK, told Agence France-Presse that “sadly” she was not surprised by this research.
“What surprises me is conservationists who imagine that technologies can be introduced and used in a social, political, and economic vacuum,” she said.
“The cases in this research are not accidental,” Duffy pointed out. “They were actively using the drones to provide new ways of continuing to harass women.”
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
While this technology can be a powerful tool to conserve wildlife, “there must be clear rules for what they can and cannot be used forluckywin, and clear consequences for anyone misusing them,” she added.
READ NEXT UN nuclear watchdog board passes resolution chiding Iran Scholarships in 4 PH schools offered to Myanmar refugees EDITORS' PICK DTI warns of counterfeit Highlands corned beef Comelec to resolve next week appeals of bets declared as nuisance Tolentino lauds farmers’ role as nation builders Pentagon, AFP on Task Force Ayungin: US troops limited to supporting role Kathryn Bernardo, Alden Richards grace Asian World Film Festival red carpet Philippines posts 3rd straight podium finish at Miss CosmoWorld pageant MOST READ Pentagon, AFP on Task Force Ayungin: US troops limited to supporting role House probe retraces bulk withdrawals of confidential funds P200 billion PH solar facility breaks ground in Nueva Ecija Romualdez calls out VP Sara Duterte: Explain fund use yourself Follow @FMangosingINQ on Twitter --> View comments