Pakistan – Gang Rapes – Filmed & Shared Online – Compounded Victimization

Asian Human Rights Commission – AHRC

https://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-170-2015

PAKISTAN – GANG RAPES & ONLINE VIDEOS – COMPOUNDED VICTIMIZATION

October 20, 2015 – Rape is not merely an offence against the body; it is soul shattering. In a so-called Islamic state like Pakistan, rape is a punishable crime, with a zero conviction rate. The true intentions of the State and its people are exposed in a land where a rape occurs every two hours and a gang rape every eighth hour. The unavailability of justice is why we see victims attempting public self-immolation. No implementation of the law has resulted in rampant rape and further led to an indescribable social chaos, where the new normal is horrific.

In recent years, in gang rapes, the rapists have been filming the act, and have later been threatening the victim with dissemination of the video if he or she dares to report the crime. As there is no specific law to force websites to take down videos, and there is a lack of political will, victims are usually silenced, bowing to the demands of the rapists.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency that handles cybercrime offences, about 12 to 15 cases of private videos of a sexual nature are being uploaded a month by blackmailing gangs and the numbers appear to be increasing. Such videos can go viral within minutes and get thousands of hits instantly. Gang rape victims, such as the Kasoor gang rape victims, find themselves isolated and hapless; they are treated like outcasts despite being victims of the worst form of abuse. The Kasoor rapes came to light following a land dispute. Though the gang has been actively indulging in blackmailing and extortion from victims and their family.

In jurisdictions with a more humane criminal justice system and sensitive society, the victim is protected. However, naming and shaming is practiced exclusively for the victim by the media in Pakistan; the offenders are the ones that usually get immunity and anonymity. Media ethics for reporting sex crimes is unknown in the nascent electronic media in Pakistan.

Mukhtara Mai became the face of Pakistan when she was gang raped at the orders of a panchayat; sadly her ordeal only began after the gang rape. The apathy of the Judiciary in her case and the poor prosecution, coupled with patriarchal mindset of the society, defeated justice and her perpetrators went scot-free.

Recently BBC News reported the case of a teenage girl from rural Punjab who was subjected to gang rape and then the rapist had posted video of the crime on social media. The video showed her being raped by four men, one by one, while she pleaded for mercy. It spread rapidly through the towns and villages of Punjab. The video was circulated freely while Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) did nothing to take down the video. This is the same PTA that had blocked YouTube in Pakistan for the past two years.

A case was recently reported to Tehrik-e-Niswan, an NGO working for women victims of domestic abuse and rape in Pakistan. A girl has reported being gang raped by three men. The girl is a resident of Mohallah Chananpura, Tehsil Sillanwali, District Sargodha, Punjab. She was tricked by local women named Safia Bibi (who is the wife of Muhammad Aslam) and Bakh Bhari to visit their house for the recitation of Quran. The girl was given a cold drink laced with sedative. She fell unconscious. Three men raped her and filmed the crime. The victim is now being threatened to remain silent or her video will be circulated. The girl reports that the two women are banking on the video by blackmailing the girls of her locality. Many girls fear telling their parents about the incident.

Sadly the incidents of gang rape are skyrocketing in Pakistan. The victims fear for their dignity and family would rather not approach the concerned authorities. Many a times, the police are hand in glove with the perpetrators. And now, amidst a new wave of rape viral videos, it is next to impossible for the victim to complain, let alone seek justice. The victim’s image is so tarnished by the time the rape comes to light that her own loved one often refuse to believe that the victim was innocent.

Rape and sexual violence is a sad reality for women and children in Pakistan. The number of women in Pakistan, who are molested by teachers when young, sexually harassed co-workers at work, and abused by husbands at home, is too large. Thousands of women suffer the same fate each day, yet they dare not speak up, because the society will label them as “loose” or amorous women. A plethora of women centric laws has done little to protect women from sexual abuse because despite the change in law the society has itself not changed. It is time the Pakistani politicians and the society look within and weed out the factions that are abusing our daughters and sisters.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31313551

PAKISTAN – HOW A GANG RAPE WAS FILMED & SHARED ONLINE

26 February 2015 – When a young Pakistani woman was gang raped in a remote village, she kept silent. But then a video of the rape began circulating online and via mobile phone. As BBC Urdu’s Amber Shamsi reports, little appears to have been done to stop web users from sharing the video.

Sadia (not her real name) had thought that if she kept quiet, it might protect her from the humiliation of being known as a rape victim.

Sadia says the public nature of her gang rape ordeal  has made it difficult for her to leave home.

But in the days or weeks after, two versions of her ordeal began to circulate online – one lasted five minutes, the other 40 minutes.

The video showed her being raped by four men, one by one, while she pleaded for mercy. It spread rapidly through the towns and villages of Punjab.

“It was my elder brother who first told me about the video. He saw it and recognized Sadia, then came to me,” Sadia’s father says.

“She felt too ashamed to tell me because I’m her father. If her mother had been alive, I’m sure my daughter would have told her.”

They then reported the rape, and it was easy to find the alleged culprits in that small community.

‘Sharing’ the rape

It was shared largely through Bluetooth and clips have reportedly made it on to social media websites such as Facebook.

It can still be shared. Pakistan does not have the laws to stop this from happening.

Sadia lives in a typical Pakistani village, with mud homes surrounded by fields of sugarcane and small vegetable gardens.

She is 23 but she looks much younger. Since her mother died, she has been a surrogate mother to her younger siblings.

Sadia is nervous as she speaks, clasping and unclasping her hands, breaking down and re-composing herself.

She says she was on her way to the market to buy her sister’s school uniform when she was bundled into a car and threatened with a gun. She claims the four men in the car took her to a house and raped her while filming the act on a mobile phone.

“After I begged and pleaded with them, they beat me even more,” she says. “They said to me that if I don’t listen to them and do what they want, they’ll show everyone the video, put it up on the internet, that they would hurt my brothers and sister.

“I didn’t care about myself but I didn’t want my siblings’ future to be in jeopardy because of me. That’s why I didn’t tell anyone.”

She is acutely aware the video is now being watched widely.

“A lot of people are watching this video for fun, they see it as something interesting.”

Cyber crime laws

When I came face to face with the four accused men in the police station where they were being held on remand, they hung their heads to avoid our gaze. They are currently in jail and the trial is under way.

As well as being prosecuted for gang-rape and kidnap, they have also been charged with distributing pornography for which the penalty is three months in jail.

The video is still online although police say they have been trying to get it removed. As far as the gang-rape is concerned, police say that with the video, the case is strong

But this is also a story that underscores how Pakistan’s legal system has been unable to keep pace with rapid changes in society and technology.

Lawyers specialising in cyber crime say there is no specific law to force websites to take down the video, and a lack of political will and manpower means this could still be some way off.

A comprehensive cyber-crime ordinance was allowed to lapse four years ago before it could become law.

So local police and federal agents adopt a piecemeal approach when confronted with a crime like the filming and sharing of a video containing sexual violence and invoke laws pertaining to sexual harassment, defamation or criminal intimidation or basic clauses on violation of privacy gleaned from an old law called the Electronic Transactions Ordinance (ETO).

Under a new cyber-crime law (yet to be enacted by parliament), the punishment for distributing sexually explicit material will be three years – whether or not it involves violence which is dealt with under separate laws – and violation of privacy is also three years

A deputy director-general with the central Federal Investigation Agency which covers cyber crime, Shehzad Haider, says he gets about 12 to 15 cases of private videos of a sexual nature being uploaded a month – by jilted lovers and blackmailing gangs – and the numbers appear to be increasing.

“The law which was allowed to lapse was very effective because it was detailed and made the job of prosecution much easier,” says Mr Haider. “We make do with the ETO because we have no choice.”

Sadia has no choice either. She is now house-bound because of the shame of the public nature of her ordeal. She used to be a primary-school teacher and had been in further study.

“Some of my college professors visited me and encouraged me to complete my studies,” she says.

“They say I should put it behind me, but I can’t. Not until the men are punished.”

How the crime came to light: Tahir Imran Mian, Social Media editor, BBC Urdu

“I have something to share with you and I hope the BBC can help the victim.” That was the message attached to a video from a reader of the BBC Urdu Facebook page.

It is one the biggest and most followed pages in Pakistan and a huge number of people reach out to us for help. We are often sent graphic material, but I felt numb after seeing the shocking video so decided to investigate.

After a few phone calls and conversations, it dawned on me that people were watching and sharing this. I then found that many men in the area where the attack took place thought it was “fun” to share and watch the video.

There are several closed groups on Facebook where men can share images. Those who have access to tools and technology can take it further and blackmail victims. A mobile phone with a camera is cheap and so are the opportunities it provides to many who knowingly or unknowingly record their videos and then share them.

The victim often ends up being the one stigmatised.