New Delhi: Highlighting the growing challenge of online crimes against women and children, Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Friday called on law enforcement agencies to ensure prompt and coordinated response to such cases, and also urged information technology (IT) intermediaries to follow all legal provisions to secure digital spaces for women and children. Addressing the inaugural session of the National Dialogue on ‘Online Crimes Against Women and Children’ (OCWC) organized by the Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Center (I4C) here, Mohan asked states and union territories to strengthen their institutional capacities and develop strong, specialized units and dedicated response mechanisms to ensure timely investigation, victim support and prompt action against criminals.The event aims to bring together key stakeholders to deliberate on strengthening coordinated mechanisms to prevent and effectively respond to online crimes targeting women and children. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guidance of Home Minister Amit Shah, the Government of India is committed to strengthening institutional mechanisms and promoting collaboration among all stakeholders to ensure a safe, secure and respectful digital environment for women and children across the country,” the ministry said in a statement on Friday.During the dialogue, emerging trends and patterns in online crimes against women and children were discussed; strengthening investigative framework and digital forensic capabilities; improving victim assistance and reporting mechanisms; Increasing coordination with digital platforms for timely removal of harmful content; and promoting multi-stakeholder collaboration for prevention, awareness, and enforcement.Addressing the gathering, Mohan called upon all stakeholders to work collectively towards ensuring a safe and secure digital ecosystem.The National Dialogue provides a platform for exchange of knowledge, sharing of best practices and collective deliberations on formulating a coordinated national strategy to deal with the emerging challenges posed by online crimes in the digital environment.The inauguration also marked the beginning of the Master Trainers Induction Program in States/UTs on Online Crimes against Women and Children, which aims to create a national pool of trained officers to lead capacity building initiatives in their respective States and UTs. The objective of the program is to equip selected officers with the specialized knowledge, investigative techniques and best practices required to tackle emerging cyber threats targeting women and children. These officers will train law enforcement personnel at the state and district levels, thereby strengthening the country’s response framework to such crimes.Participating in the National Dialogue on Friday were senior officials from state and union territory law enforcement agencies, representatives of line ministries and departments of the Government of India, social media intermediaries, internet service providers, academicians, civil society organizations, legal experts and student representatives.