Pakistan’ women journalists battle harassmen...

Summary

• Social media has expanded opportunities for women journalists to reach audiences, but it has also become a major source of harassment, trolling and threats.
• Senior multimedia journalist Saman Khan said there is no comprehensive official or private database documenting online harassment and trolling of women journalists in Pakistan.
• The Digital Rights Foundation has received complaints from women journalists involving online stalking, blackmail, direct threats, fake accounts, unauthorised disclosure of personal information and hacking of social media accounts.

AI Generated Summary

Women journalists in Pakistan are facing growing threats that extend beyond newsrooms and field reporting. Workplace harassment, intimidation and physical misconduct are increasingly being accompanied by online abuse, trolling, blackmail, character assassination and threats on social media.

The unauthorised use of private photographs, manipulated images, fake videos and artificial intelligence-generated content has further complicated the security challenges faced by women in journalism.

Personal accounts from women journalists, along with national and international research, show that these threats are affecting their reporting, online expression and professional activities. Despite the existence of laws and institutional mechanisms, there is still no comprehensive national database specifically documenting cases involving women journalists.

Journalist Laiba Zainab said women in the profession face discrimination and harassment in newsrooms, during field assignments and on social media.

She said newly recruited women journalists are sometimes discouraged from covering crime, politics and other major beats and are instead pushed towards stories considered more suitable for women. She also recalled being asked personal questions about marriage, future marriage plans and pregnancy during job interviews.

Zainab said she was once followed by motorcyclists in Lahore who stared at her and made obscene gestures. On another occasion, a male colleague sat in her car and behaved inappropriately by pinching her cheek. She said repeated incidents of this nature eventually led her to resign from a private television channel.

Lahore-based reporter Fakhra Khalil also described harassment during field assignments. She said women reporters are often subjected to inappropriate stares and comments about their clothes and appearance, including by male journalists.

Freelance journalist Saba Chaudhry from Narowal said she faced pressure while working on a sensitive investigative story. She alleged that a senior reporter associated with a major television channel warned her against covering the story and threatened to prevent her from working in the district if she visited the area. She nevertheless travelled to the affected area, completed her reporting and published the story.

Women journalists also report discriminatory treatment inside newsrooms.

Television reporter Ammara Khan said she was previously told by senior staff that she could not handle major assignments such as protests and public gatherings. She recalled being sent to obtain footage of people bathing sacrificial animals in a canal during extreme heat. After failing to secure the required footage, she said she was accused of refusing to work.

She raised the matter with the news director but said the situation subsequently became more difficult, eventually forcing her to leave the organisation.

Senior journalist Kamal Siddiqi said workplace harassment was not limited to sexual misconduct. Threatening employees, constantly shouting at them, bullying them or creating an environment in which they feel intimidated and unsafe can also constitute harassment.

Journalist Sadia Mazhar said she faced pressure and threats while seeking information through right-to-information mechanisms.

She recalled that in 2023, a club administration in Sahiwal sought action against her after she requested information. She also received messages from different numbers after obtaining information from the Lahore Excise Office. In 2024, she faced abusive messages and sustained trolling on social media following a post about political issues.