You switch the shower on and stand naked in front of the mirror, examining your body while you wait for the water to warm up. After you've washed, you towel yourself dry, wondering if you've put a little bit of weight on or may be admiring your curves and finally you're sure your bum looks bigger…
Now imagine a tiny hidden camera is watching your every move, and has been for months. Your roommate’s boyfriend or your neighbour installed it so he could watch your most intimate bathroom moments from the comfort of his own bedroom. He even put a mirror up to make sure the room had no blind spots. Therefore, even the toilet isn't private now! As horrific as this might sound, scenarios like this do happen – and it is easier than ever for voyeurs to buy hidden camera equipment to spy on unsuspecting victims.
What is voyeurism? The Oxford Dictionary defines a voyeur as 'a person who gains pleasure from watching others in a sexually demonstrative position or activity – but this doesn't quite sum up the whole picture.
Most of us are voyeurs in some form or another – its part of the human nature. However voyeurism is harmless if it is approved, it does take a more sinister form when it's a secretive act. Indeed, the second dictionary definition of a voyeur is 'a person who enjoys seeing the pain or distress of others'. And suddenly, it doesn't seem quite so inoffensive!!
Our twenty-first century voyeurism isn't only the job of the supposedly harmless 'Peeping Tom', peering through his neighbour's window, hoping to catch a stolen glimpse of her undressing. Neither is it confined to the opportunistic voyeur who hopes to see a skirt blowing up in the wind, or waits for his waitress to bend down to give him his coffee.
Modern technology has allowed voyeurism to evolve by leaps and bounds. Now, we can not only be watched in private moments without our knowledge, but filmed, too. One’s image could be captured without one’s knowledge in a shop changing room, at the gym or even in one’s own very home. What's more... it could then be broadcast online, on one of the numerous voyeur websites in the fine cyberspace.
Amazingly, voyeurism wasn't illegal in earlier days, but now it gives legal protection to the victims of non-consensual voyeurism. The legislation means anyone observing a person in a private act for his or her own sexual gratification is committing a crime. Offenders can face imprisonment for up to two years or a fine. It is worth noting that it is not an offence just to watch someone without their knowledge – the act only becomes criminal if it is for the sexual gratification of the watcher or a third party.
While the emotional scars of someone who has been watching your intimate moments can be devastating, physical injury or aggression is unlikely. Only a small percentage of voyeurs will go on to commit worse crimes and, although 95% of rapists and sexual murderers have displayed voyeuristic tendencies, this in no way means all voyeurs will go on to offend in such a manner. It does mean anyone experiencing the crime should play safe and report it.
Almost any household object these days can be transformed into a camera or listening device. By doing a quick search on the web, you can find a number of shops selling hidden surveillance equipment. Tiny cameras can be hidden in anything, from a lady's handbag to bedside alarm clocks and you can buy long-range listening devices that are indistinguishable from mobile telephones. All you have to do is dial a special number and the phone will instantly be turned into a secret transmitter, wherever it is in the world.
It isn't only equipment designed specifically for the purpose of surveillance you have to worry about. Normal mobile phones with cameras and videos can also be used for voyeuristic purposes and who knows it better than the Indian victims of MMSs...Remember DPS Dhamaka??
Mobile companies are coming up with sets which make a sound when a picture is clicked just to avoid the increasing voyeurism, but I think it’s too late now. It’s like first pinching a child and then rocking the cradle. Though Hutch’s ‘bina ijazat kisi ki photo na lein’ is a great campaign, but the cynic whispers - why? Did cellphone operators wake up one morning and realize that their social responsibility quota for the year had not been fulfilled???
So after all this long and informative discussion, now if you find you have been watched, filmed or recorded in a place which can reasonably be expected to provide privacy, the law will protect you, so it is vital that you report it. There is also counseling and help available if you think you have been watched.
This may seem extreme and unnecessary and, for most of us, it is. Statistics show that around one in a five hundred women can expect to have been photographed without their consent. With the law now taking non-consensual voyeurism seriously, it's also comforting to know that, if it has happened to you, there is finally something you can do about it. Since voyeurs do not hurt anyone and because they are secretive, they are rarely caught but the average age of onset appears to be before 15. The disorder appears to be life-long unless treated.
Voyeurism is definitely a sinful act because it violates the privacy of a person. A voyeur who watches a naked person or persons without their knowledge essentially "steals" from them that privacy and intimacy intended only for the self and or the person's spouse. Even if the voyeur has the consent of the other(s), it is still sinful. People say, ‘voyeurism is not committing adultery’; but everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart." So voyeurs here…you definitely need to WATCH OUT!!
Now imagine a tiny hidden camera is watching your every move, and has been for months. Your roommate’s boyfriend or your neighbour installed it so he could watch your most intimate bathroom moments from the comfort of his own bedroom. He even put a mirror up to make sure the room had no blind spots. Therefore, even the toilet isn't private now! As horrific as this might sound, scenarios like this do happen – and it is easier than ever for voyeurs to buy hidden camera equipment to spy on unsuspecting victims.
What is voyeurism? The Oxford Dictionary defines a voyeur as 'a person who gains pleasure from watching others in a sexually demonstrative position or activity – but this doesn't quite sum up the whole picture.
Most of us are voyeurs in some form or another – its part of the human nature. However voyeurism is harmless if it is approved, it does take a more sinister form when it's a secretive act. Indeed, the second dictionary definition of a voyeur is 'a person who enjoys seeing the pain or distress of others'. And suddenly, it doesn't seem quite so inoffensive!!
Our twenty-first century voyeurism isn't only the job of the supposedly harmless 'Peeping Tom', peering through his neighbour's window, hoping to catch a stolen glimpse of her undressing. Neither is it confined to the opportunistic voyeur who hopes to see a skirt blowing up in the wind, or waits for his waitress to bend down to give him his coffee.
Modern technology has allowed voyeurism to evolve by leaps and bounds. Now, we can not only be watched in private moments without our knowledge, but filmed, too. One’s image could be captured without one’s knowledge in a shop changing room, at the gym or even in one’s own very home. What's more... it could then be broadcast online, on one of the numerous voyeur websites in the fine cyberspace.
Amazingly, voyeurism wasn't illegal in earlier days, but now it gives legal protection to the victims of non-consensual voyeurism. The legislation means anyone observing a person in a private act for his or her own sexual gratification is committing a crime. Offenders can face imprisonment for up to two years or a fine. It is worth noting that it is not an offence just to watch someone without their knowledge – the act only becomes criminal if it is for the sexual gratification of the watcher or a third party.
While the emotional scars of someone who has been watching your intimate moments can be devastating, physical injury or aggression is unlikely. Only a small percentage of voyeurs will go on to commit worse crimes and, although 95% of rapists and sexual murderers have displayed voyeuristic tendencies, this in no way means all voyeurs will go on to offend in such a manner. It does mean anyone experiencing the crime should play safe and report it.
Almost any household object these days can be transformed into a camera or listening device. By doing a quick search on the web, you can find a number of shops selling hidden surveillance equipment. Tiny cameras can be hidden in anything, from a lady's handbag to bedside alarm clocks and you can buy long-range listening devices that are indistinguishable from mobile telephones. All you have to do is dial a special number and the phone will instantly be turned into a secret transmitter, wherever it is in the world.
It isn't only equipment designed specifically for the purpose of surveillance you have to worry about. Normal mobile phones with cameras and videos can also be used for voyeuristic purposes and who knows it better than the Indian victims of MMSs...Remember DPS Dhamaka??
Mobile companies are coming up with sets which make a sound when a picture is clicked just to avoid the increasing voyeurism, but I think it’s too late now. It’s like first pinching a child and then rocking the cradle. Though Hutch’s ‘bina ijazat kisi ki photo na lein’ is a great campaign, but the cynic whispers - why? Did cellphone operators wake up one morning and realize that their social responsibility quota for the year had not been fulfilled???
So after all this long and informative discussion, now if you find you have been watched, filmed or recorded in a place which can reasonably be expected to provide privacy, the law will protect you, so it is vital that you report it. There is also counseling and help available if you think you have been watched.
This may seem extreme and unnecessary and, for most of us, it is. Statistics show that around one in a five hundred women can expect to have been photographed without their consent. With the law now taking non-consensual voyeurism seriously, it's also comforting to know that, if it has happened to you, there is finally something you can do about it. Since voyeurs do not hurt anyone and because they are secretive, they are rarely caught but the average age of onset appears to be before 15. The disorder appears to be life-long unless treated.
Voyeurism is definitely a sinful act because it violates the privacy of a person. A voyeur who watches a naked person or persons without their knowledge essentially "steals" from them that privacy and intimacy intended only for the self and or the person's spouse. Even if the voyeur has the consent of the other(s), it is still sinful. People say, ‘voyeurism is not committing adultery’; but everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart." So voyeurs here…you definitely need to WATCH OUT!!
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