sanayousaf22\/Instagram<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sana\u2019s TikTok content would be familiar to any teenager online. Her recent shorts included showing off her fashionwear, singing songs while driving, and filming a blowdry at the salon. <\/p>\n
But for prominent women\u2019s rights campaigners, Sana\u2019s death was the ultimate outcome of unrestricted online abuse of women in a patriarchal country. <\/p>\n
Amber Rahim Shamsi, a prominent journalist and Pakistan editor of a news digital platform, Nukta, says she was relentlessly harassed online in 2020 for a variety of issues, including her views on women\u2019s rights. <\/p>\n
Shamsi agrees that there is a crisis in masculinity, \u201cespecially in how it plays out in our digital spaces.\u201d And that it needs to be talked about \u201cnot just for women\u2019s sake, but for men\u2019s, too.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to Shamsi, \u201csocial media has amplified women\u2019s voices \u2013 especially those of young women \u2013 who are increasingly educated, politically aware, and unafraid to own their choices. That visibility, that confidence, is unsettling for some men who have grown up believing their authority, their control, is a given.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an identity crisis,\u201d says Shamsi. \u201cA subset of men is reacting with anxiety and aggression to this shift in gender dynamic as though the solution is to shrink women\u2019s spaces, rather than question why so many boys are being raised to feel threatened by equality.\u201d <\/p>\n
The DRF\u2019s report stated that since 2017 its helpline \u201chas documented over 20,000 cases of technology-facilitated gender-based violence and online threats, numbers that have only grown.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kanwal Ahmed, a Pakistani social entrepreneur and storyteller, runs Soul Sister Pakistan, a Facebook group created in 2013 with over 300,000 followers. For years, it\u2019s operated as a popular safe digital space for Pakistani women online, but Ahmed says the criticism of her page has been unrelenting. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been called a man-hating, trauma-bonding club where all women do is gossip,\u201d said Ahmed, who works with volunteers to help women in need who post on the page. <\/p>\n
Sana is not alone when it comes to unwanted online attention that\u2019s moved to real life. Ahmed recalled a case in 2019 of a young woman who had been stalked by a man after her friend leaked her number online. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe only difference between her and Sana is that she wasn\u2019t killed, the stalker turned up at her door,\u201d said Ahmed. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be an influencer to face this, it can happen to anyone.\u201d <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a perception in Pakistan that \u201cviolence that takes place online is not \u2018real\u2019 and is therefore less harmful,\u201d Tariq said. But she added that what are sometimes seen as \u201cmerely virtual\u201d online threats can often turn to physical violence. <\/p>\n
Much praise has been heaped on Pakistani authorities for their sensitive and swift handling of Sana\u2019s murder, but some commentators say that\u2019s missing the point. <\/p>\n
Usama Khilji, the director of Bolo Bhi, a digital rights advocacy group Bolo Bhi, says Pakistan should be talking about educating boys about online harassment. <\/p>\n
\u201cMen in leadership positions need to be talking about these issues,\u201d according to Khilji. <\/p>\n
Khilji said hate speech against women in Pakistan is still \u201cnot a priority, and he\u2019s called on the government to \u201cshow leadership in combatting online crimes against women.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sana\u2019s murder comes less than two weeks after a landmark ruling by the country\u2019s Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Zahir Jaffer, who murdered Noor Mukkadam, the daughter of a distinguished diplomat, in 2021. <\/p>\n
The brutal beheading horrified the country and renewed calls for better protection for victims of gender-based violence. <\/p>\n
Noor\u2019s father, Shaukat Mukadam, has been lauded for his relentless campaign for justice for his daughter. After the ruling, Noor\u2019s family issued a statement saying the verdict was a \u201cpowerful reminder that women\u2019s lives matter.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery moment with her was unforgettable,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n
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