Reclaiming virtual space: Nighat Dad helping women fight cyber abuse
Digital Rights Foundation helps women deal with the phenomenon of online harassment Photo: Intelexit
(Web Desk) - “Online violence against women is a global issue; it’s just that the consequences are different in Pakistan due to culture, religion, societal norms, patriarchy and also the lack of awareness.”
In an interview to the Guardian, digital rights activist Nighat Dad says she reached a breaking point after the killing of Qandeel Baloch.
“I reached my limit, where I was like, ‘I don’t think that I can deal with this,’” she says. “It was impacting on my emotional health. The guilt I felt that if I’m not going to respond to this call or the message which I’m getting in the middle of the night, maybe this person will lose their life or maybe there is a fear of violence.”
A number of women felt increasingly unsafe especially online after the murder of Baloch by her brother. More and more women began seeking out Dad to relate terrible stories of online harassment, revenge porn and men doctoring photographs of women in order to extort money from them.
Dad has been actively working on spreading the word about the Digital Rights Foundation which she established in 2012. Digital Rights Foundation helps women deal with the new phenomenon of online harassment.
Dad expanded her operations and launched Pakistan’s first cyber harassment helpline after recognising the urgency of tackling the issue. Dad with her team of 12 people which includes a counselor field up to 20 calls a day.
The cases range from women wanting advice on social media security settings to more serious problems. “Every single day we are resolving these issues. There are issues of identity theft, blackmail, there are women filmed being raped and then blackmailed to prevent it going online,” says Dad.
“Technology is ever changing, so violence in the online spaces has also increased. It has become doxing, sextortion and revenge porn. It’s massive.”
According to FIA report more than 3,000 cybercrimes were recorded in 2015. And 45% among this ratio were women who were using social media. In May, Dad’s team commissioned a study that found 70% of women were afraid of posting their pictures online. Most women feared their pictures could be misused; 40% of women were harassed and stalked on messaging apps.
Rabia Mehmood, a Pakistani technology journalist, speaks on online harassment as, “Harassment is a significant issue for women with access to technology in Pakistan, and has been so since the days of landlines,” she says. “Unfortunately, the transition to better connectivity, more user control of platforms and devices, has not eradicated the online abuse and violence for women – [it has] only made the issue much more stark.
“In Pakistan, outspoken women have received rape and death threats, smear campaigns run against them, and their contact information has been shared on social media. We have seen a transitioning of violence and harassment of women from the offline world to online spaces.”
There is little help available. “A trust deficit between the authorities and women exists in Pakistani society,” says Mehmood. “Women believe justice will not be served, there is fear of being shamed and judged, and finally, not knowing the right procedure of seeking help.”
In 2015, a group of young women studying at Edwards College in Peshawar contacted Dad. These young women spoke to Dad how someone on Facebook was posting their photos alongside with their names and phone numbers stating they were prostitutes.
In fear of losing their reputation, most women were forced to meet the demands.
With help from Dad and her team, a number of these young women chose to fight back. The women reported the blackmail as a crime and the men were arrested.
The page couldn’t get removed because the images were not nude and the text on the page was written in Pashto language, which was not found to be breaching any Facebook’s community standards guidelines.
Dad began to lobby Facebook. “We found a gap in Facebook’s mechanisms,” says Dad, who finally succeeded in having the posts removed. As a result of what happened in Peshawar, Facebook has expanded its operations to include more native language speakers to review content.
She is optimistic. “Mostly, women actually fight back now. There were times when women would just detach themselves from technology – but that’s not a solution. We really want them to reclaim these spaces by knowing how to fight back, and I think change is happening. It’s slow, but it’s happening.”
This article originally appeared on the Guardian.
