DRF hopes FIA can start handling complaints effectively

According to the data, given the gendered nature of harassment, around 62 % of the cases were reported by women.

LAHORE: The Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) received 513 complaints since it launched the region’s very first Cyber Harassment Helpline in December, 2016.

This was revealed in the foundation’s first four-month report released recently. According to the data, given the gendered nature of harassment, around 62 per cent of the cases were reported by women.

DRF Founder and Executive Director Night Dad said their biggest challenge and frustration in operating the cyber harassment helpline was the mechanism to refer complaints to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

She added it was a challenge to convince complainants to register their cases formally with the FIA since 47% fell in the domain of the FIA. “On the other hand, once we convince a caller to approach FIA’s cybercrime wing, we see the authority is usually slow to respond,” she said.



Sometimes there was no response at all, while the complaint was addressed after many weeks on other occasions, she said. Nighat Dad added support staff also tried reaching out to the FIA on behalf of the complainant.

The executive director continued that the nature of cyber harassment was serious. “For example, the victim might be under the threat of honour killing, which requires urgent action. However, FIA is currently unable to cope with the multiple challenges,” she claimed. “FIA itself has its own limitations as it is understaffed with scarce resources, Nighat explained. “The FIA people who really want to help women are also trapped under the bigger hierarchy,” she added.

Nighat shared that the helpline had been receiving the most complaints from Punjab. However, anyone who wants their issue to be taken seriously must actually reach the Lahore office to register their case with the FIA. “This is virtually impossible for many of the women victims from rural areas,” she said.



The DRF founder said there was no other mechanism currently in place. “The FIA cannot technically proceed without the complainant personally reaching the Lahore office to register their case. This renders online complaints from far off cities as useless.”

To make matters worse, Nighat said there were only 11 investigation officers that could take cases to courts in Pakistan’s most populated province. She added there were only four to five cybercrime wings operational in the country, leaving people from rural areas helpless in most cases.

It was announced earlier in May that cyber courts would be established. However, it was still unclear whether judges were properly trained or how the courts would function. Talking about future strategy, Night said DRF wanted to reach out to policymakers for reforms. “We also intend to establish comprehensive coordination mechanisms with the FIA and identify gaps in the cybercrime law or the processes involved in reporting harassment,” she added.

The report also suggested that there was an urgent need for better trained investigation officers and gender sensitisation.”Furthermore, there is a need for more women to handle cases around online harassment.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2017.