Ladies, beware of the screen bullies!

A friend called me the other day. She sounded a little strange. She told me she had searched my name online and found it sitting on some inappropriate websites, right next to my job title, as if somebody had planted it there on purpose. Of course, somebody had.

Let's replay the day of that "somebody" who did this. Flash through his morning: he woke up, he ate, and he had a whole world of things he could have done with his hours. And out of every option on this earth, he chose to sit down and type a woman's name into that desperate URL. That was his flex. That was his contribution to the world that morning.

I mean somewhere, a man is curing diseases and building companies, and this one is busy gluing a woman's name to garbage and calling it a victory. What a genius! Did he call his mother and tell her, "Look, Ammi, I attacked a woman who never even knew my name"?

And what's funny? This insecure soul really believed that I would get scared, collapse on my bed, and waste my precious tears on him. How generous of his ego.

He offered neither sincere criticism, logical rebuttal, nor verified facts – just a keyboard and a stomach full of malice.

Ladies, what does his attack illustrate? That he looked at your success and felt his own emptiness. That he saw you rising and remembered he was going nowhere. That he could not compete with your brain, so he reached for filth, because filth is the only place where he can win.

So now I speak to every woman bleeding from this. Hear me, and hear me well. Do not be scared of these losers. Not the ones who hide behind screens, not the ones who throw bile and run.

When you see your name in some dirty corner of the internet, do not shrink, and do not cry. You did nothing that stains your name, so why would you carry shame that belongs to him?

And remember, you are not helpless either. Report it directly on the platform using their harassment tools. Take screenshots of usernames, URLs and timestamps, then escalate to Pakistan's National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency at 051-9106691 or helpdesk@nr3c.gov.pk, or visit your nearest NCCIA office. You can also contact Digital Rights Foundation at 0800-39393 for free support on cyber harassment and digital safety. If the content appears in Google Search, request removal through Google Legal Help, especially for privacy violations, explicit content, impersonation or harassment.

There are real ways to fight back, and you use every one of them while looking these cowards dead in the eye. Because here is how their pathetic little trick even works, and once you understand it, your fear dies on the spot.

These websites have a search bar. When a person types any name into that bar, the website automatically creates a page for it. Google notices that page and starts linking the name to the site. That is the full algorithm behind their intimidation.

Yes! That is it.

There is no video, no truth, only a hollow result that a jealous man manufactured to scare you. Imagine that "somebody" being so insecure that a pixelated name became their idea of dominance. And my sisters…before you report it, do one thing. Smile. Then look at that page and really see the man behind it.

How small is he? How badly is your success threatening his identity that he attacks it in the dark? You are building a name. He is crawling through the gutter trying to stain it. You speak in real rooms, in front of real people. He hides behind a screen like a rat. So tell me honestly, who is the loser here?

Never forget, ladies: you are stepping onto real stages, and all they have is a search bar.