ISLAMABAD: The National Information Technology Board (NITB) has launched an app to tackle the increasing sexual harassment against women in Pakistan.
As per details, through the app, the users will be able to report incidents of sexual harassment and assault. The app will also offer an understanding of what constitutes harassment at both a personal and societal level.
With the current need for digital awareness and to induce a sense of urgency among women, the IT body has launched the app, an official said.
The app has been designed to ensure the safety of women, particularly in the public spheres, the official added.
In any uncomfortable situation, the users will have to simply tap a button in the app to share their location with the authorities.“Harassment APP” is available for both iOS and Android users.
Though, information such as the victim’s and offender’s gender, the location of offense and details of the incident would be taken to file a case.
The app also has a function called the distress message, which allows one to send an emergency signal to three chosen contacts with a single click of a button.
On June 3, the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) had reported a 189 percent increase in cyber-harassment complaints registered with their helpline,
In this regard, DRF had issued a press release and said, “As Pakistan entered its lockdown [in March] in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, we feared there would be an increase in cyber-harassment cases as well as cyber attacks in general.”
The organization reported a combined 136 complaints of cyber harassment in March and April — during the lockdown — compared to 47 such complaints, an increase of 189pc, before the lockdown in January and February.
The press release informed that 74 percent of the complaints registered in March and April were reported by women, whereas, men and non-binary persons registered 19 percent and 5 percent complaints, respectively.
“A majority of the cases that the organisation’s cyber harassment helpline received during the lockdown months “pertained to blackmailing through non-consensual sharing of information, intimate pictures and videos,” the press release added.
