IWC Butterworth participates in PKAPP’s International Women’s Day Celebrations
Inner Wheel Club Butterworth
18 March 2023
Persatuan Kebajikan Asas Pulau Pinang celebrated International Women’s Day by organising a talk on ‘Cyber Safety: Keeping Women and Children Safe Online’. There were seventy attendees from NGOs all over the state of Penang and the keynote speaker was none other than Dr Lalitha Ramasamy, a valued member of the Inner Wheel Club of Butterworth.
The Guest of Honour for the event was Yang Berbahagia Puan Tan Lean Kee, wife of the Honourable Chief Minister of Penang. Madam Tan in her speech spoke about the drawbacks of connectivity and how especially women and children were prone to scams and other dangers with their presence on social media.
Dr Lalitha, a senior lecturer at Wawasan Open University, is a well-known Women’s Rights Activist and a passionate Gender Equality Advocate. She is also a sought-after speaker on Women’s Issues and extremely knowledgeable on such topics.
In her talk, Dr Lalitha touched on how cyber criminals expertly target women and children and use psychology and their knowledge of tech to prey on unsuspecting people who are tricked into revealing personal information, posing for suggestive photographs etc. Victims could end up losing their savings, getting blackmailed, becoming depressed and in worst case scenarios even commit suicide.
Dr Lalitha gave some pointers on how to address such issues in the event they arose, the numerous avenues available for a victim to seek help and even redress. She also gave tips on how to stay vigilant to protect oneself and loved ones so that the worst repercussions of such invasions of privacy may be avoided.
She gave clear examples of the behaviour of people who have fallen into such traps also how to approach them and give them hope so they do not lose faith in themselves or humanity. All NGOs that attended the event including IWC Butterworth were given certificates of participation and some of them expressed their gratitude to the organisers.
~ Lucy Barrock