Ayesha Omar reveals how image-based abuse harmed her career, mental well-being

Actor details how private vacation photos from trip to Thailand threatened her career

Actor Ayesha Omar spoke about the consequences of image-based abuse, revealing how her personal vacation photos shared online without her consent threatened her personal relationships and cost her professional opportunities.

BBC Global Women spoke to Omar, who criticised social media companies and authorities for failing women. The actor, who was featured in a report by gender justice organisation Chayn, was one out of 64 women who had reportedly experienced image-based abuse across Pakistani and diaspora communities in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The actor recalled the exposure of private photos from a trip to Thailand with friends. One image, which showed her wearing a one-piece swimsuit and shorts, was allegedly taken from her laptop and posted online without her knowledge or consent, Omar said.

"Just two girls on a beach holiday in Thailand and those images were posted everywhere," the actor said, adding, "It was just me wearing a skirt, a little top, a swimsuit with a sarong and I am just running around the beach or in the water with my female friends."

Omar revealed, “It was very damaging for my career, I lost out on a lot of work stuff. Because in my culture, you have to conform to a particular image, even if you’re representing a brand." She also shared that the incident took an emotional toll on her. “I went through a lot of trauma because of that," she said, explaining that she was left feeling “hypervigilant" to the point where she constantly scanned her surroundings for people who may be secretly filming her.

Chayn founder Hera Hussein worked closely with Omar to redefine what image-based abuse means, compiling a report which challenges the stereotype that the abuse is only confined to nude photos.

Speaking to the BBC, Hussein stated, "So many survivors around the world, especially in certain cultures — and this report's about Pakistan — it's the experience of many women and gender minorities in South Asia. The image does not have to be nude for it to be harmful." She added, "Sometimes it can be as harmful even if not a single body part is bare. And that's why we want to reframe the conversation around image-based abuse, away from nudity and it being about consent."

"The lack of consent is what's important, not about how nude an image is," Hussein stressed.

The report also detailed a separate case of image-based abuse. A 32-year-old Pakistani woman, referred to with the alias Mahnoor, shared that private photos of her wearing Western clothing were circulated online, allegedly by her ex-husband. According to the report, the incident contributed to the breakdown of her current marriage and led to the loss of support from family and friends, ultimately affecting her children as well.

The BBC article emphasises that such leaked pictures were ordinary selfies showing Mahnoor lying in bed or displaying her outfits and makeup. “None had ever been shared publicly. She rarely posted photos on social media, mindful of the conservative culture of her community in Pakistan," the report stated.

BBC further reported that image-based abuse has evolved beyond the sharing of private photos, with social media users now able to manipulate images and create false narratives through editing and cropping. “Mahnoor says he (her ex-husband) also cropped images of her with a group of friends to make it appear that she was standing with a man, insinuating that they were having an affair," the report stated.

Omar and Mahnoor's cases demonstrate how image-based violence continues to affect women across the world, including public figures in Pakistan, often as part of revenge-driven harassment campaigns.