A report released by the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) claims that complaints of online harassment by women in Pakistan are mostly in reference to Facebook and WhatsAapp.
According to data analysed from the phone calls made to DRF’s online harassment helpline from December 2016 to November 2018, women reported being blackmailed, deceived, having their information shared non-consensually and their personal data and photographs manipulated etc.
Of the 2,781 complaints received by the organisation between this timeline, 660 of the complaints (29pc) were related to Facebook whereas complaints pertaining to the mobile messaging application WhatAapp have also risen from 2.6pc to 9.5pc in the past six months.
The report recommends that investigation officers dealing with such complaints should receive sensitivity training in internet governance and criminal prosecution and there should be a minimum of 33pc female representation among them.
