Harassment in cyberspace

Many women avoid registering cyber harassment cases due to societal norms, which emboldens criminals

Arrests for harassing women in cyberspace and for child pornography are made in Pakistan from time to time from various places in the country. In the latest such case, FIA has apprehended several men in Karachi and other cities of Sindh. In the most glaring case, two men from the media industry have been caught in Karachi. They were allegedly blackmailing girls desirous of making it big in the modelling profession. According to the FIA, obscene videos of 20 girls and sophisticated devices have been recovered from the main accused. The accused shared these videos with their friends and acquaintances.

The intentions of these criminals were clearly wicked. Since making doctored videos is easy, especially for those trained in IT, these videos were obviously photoshopped. Two accused were, moreover, arrested from other towns: one for uploading child pornography on the internet and the other for sharing an obscene video of a targeted female with others. The one who uploaded child pornography on the internet was arrested on a complaint of Interpol. Investigation agencies deserve commendation for netting the criminal elements operating on the internet. One recalls to mind a string of cases of criminal assault of boys a few years back in Kasur. The accused revealed that they subjected their victims to rape and captured it on phone cameras. They uploaded these videos on the dark net for making money and also for blackmailing their victims. The pornography ring in Kasur was busted soon.

Most arrests in cyberspace harassment cases are made on complaints of the victims and their guardians. However, many women avoid registering cyber harassment cases due to societal norms. This only emboldens the criminals. The number of those browsing the porn sites on the internet is considerably large in nearly all parts of the world. It is generally believed that this leads to rape, child abuse, groping and a host of other sex crimes. Social scientists should explore the connection between porn and sex crimes and devise ways and means to bring these obnoxious practices to an end.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2022.

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