We Often Overlook
We Often Overlook: Seventeen-year-old Sana Yousaf never imagined that the simple videos she posted online would become evidence in her own murder case. Online trolling grew into threats that followed her into real life. Her story shocked the country because it showed a growing and common problem.
Each year, the 16 Days of Activism remind us that gender-based violence exists everywhere. It happens in homes, workplaces, and online spaces. Many women stay silent because people tell them to endure it. As a Vietnamese woman living in Pakistan, I see how different cultures still create the same silence around violence. Places change, but barriers stay the same.
Systemic Barriers
In 2024, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency received 135,000 complaints, but only 826 reached prosecution. A 0.6 per cent success rate shows how hard the system is for survivors. Many women travel long distances to one of only 15 cybercrime police stations. Some must borrow devices from male relatives to file a complaint. The process is so difficult that many give up before they begin.
Pakistan has made real efforts. Laws exist, crisis centres operate, and helplines are growing. But these protections work unevenly. As a result, many women do not report cases, few abusers face justice, and violence continues.
Modern Failures
Recent conversations made one thing clear: Pakistan’s systems still belong to an offline world. They cannot respond to harm that spreads fast, anonymously, and permanently.
With UNDP’s help, the Ministry of Human Rights created Pakistan’s first national strategy on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence. Survivors, lawmakers, and digital rights experts shaped the plan. One major reform requires platforms to remove harmful content within 24 hours. A new Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority will oversee this rule. Meta responds to most law-enforcement requests, TikTok responds to some, and X responds to none. Voluntary cooperation is no longer enough.
Local Realities
The strategy also considers local context. The 2012 Kohistan case showed this clearly. A simple video of veiled women clapping led to killings because global moderation rules did not match local realities.
These failures have consequences. Many women limit their online presence or disappear from the internet. Digital abuse restricts their movement, expression, and opportunities. Being visible online becomes dangerous instead of empowering.
In Vietnam, people often treated violence as a “private matter.” That silence is common in Pakistan too. The stories differ, but shame and normalisation keep violence alive.
Protecting Survivors
The strategy focuses on four areas: prevention, protection, accountability, and survivor support. One important reform closes the “blackmail loophole.” It recognises that threatening to leak intimate images is also violence. The plan also addresses the rise of AI-generated sexual images. Since most deepfakes target women, Pakistan needs stronger digital forensics and stricter platform rules.
Pakistan’s digital growth is rapid. Eight million women came online in 2024. But their participation remains fragile. Without strong protection, a woman’s digital access depends on her ability to tolerate abuse.
Shared Responsibility
The new strategy places Pakistan among the first in South Asia to take a coordinated and forward-looking approach. It shifts the focus from documenting harm to preventing it.
But laws alone cannot end violence. Real progress depends on what platforms, policymakers, families, and citizens choose to do next. Women do not ask for perfection. They ask for safety, dignity, and freedom from fear.
People often ask why I work on this issue. My reason is personal. Every woman I know has survived violence or knows someone who has. I am no different. When you understand that half of humanity carries this fear, you realise this is not just a women’s issue. It is a societal one. Screens will stay. Violence should not.
Published in Dawn, 25th November 2025
