Unveiling the Reasons for Digital Violence Against Women in Pakistan

A new research report by Bytes for All, Pakistan, entitled “Exploring the Grounds of Digital Violence Against Women in Pakistan,” offers undeniable proof of the risks that women run both in respect of their personal safety and their freedom of expression because of the conjunction of digital violence against women. Cases involving TikTok-er Imsha Rehman, Shia ordinary women activists, and women activists Dr Sabiha Baloch and Sindhoo Nawaz Ghanghro represent the illustration of online harassment campaigns not only silencing women but also contributing to the spread of terroristic thought on the internet. Such cases suggest that the weaponization of the internet is exercised via defamatory campaigns that cow women, including women from minority communities.

The report illustrates that women who speak out online, through either media reporting, working as Human Rights Defenders, activists, or other forms of online content creation through speaking out, face online harassment or online abuse meant to silence them. For most women, online abuse does not stop at just being online; it spills into their psychosocial well-being.

The report charts patterns of evident hatred, gender-specific derogation, organized hatred campaigns, religious hatred, blasphemy allegations, unauthorized private images, imitation, and the use of synthetic media by using real-world examples of cases. By using such real-world examples of cases, it is obvious that digital violence is connected with other inequalities linked to patriarchal values from the past centuries. This is because patriarchal practices make the digital spaces unsafe for women.

The recommendations within this report demonstrate how policymakers, law enforcement, the judiciary, technology companies, the media, and civil society organizations need to accept that digital violence is a real issue that needs to be addressed in order to ensure that women and girls feel safe online enough to express their opinions, produce online content, and use technology for their own ends. This is a call-to-action report.