SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF ONLINE HARASSMENT ON FEMALE JOURNALISTS AND ACTIVISTS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

How do female journalists and activists in Pakistan perceive, experience and cope up with online harassment? Any action that targets others with force or threats is considered harassment. The use of technology has brought a new era of communication and connectivity, but it has also brought new forms of harassment and violence. Journalists and activists use digital spaces to express their opinions and get harassed in the digital spaces in all over the world. Scholars have delved into the incidents of online harassment to female journalists and activists in Pakistan but those studies don‟t shed light on the traumas faced by those victims caused by online harassment. The present study focuses on the traumas faced by female journalists and activists in Pakistan due to the harassment they face in digital environments during the course of their professional life. The study focuses on the feminism theory using a gendered lens to analyze the traumatic experiences resulting in the impacts on the psycho-social health of the victims. The study relies on the Primary and Secondary data. 10 Semi-structured open ended interviews were conducted to female journalists and activists of Pakistan who have faced online harassment on different social media primarily on Twitter. The findings draw attention to the widespread negative impacts of online harassment on mental health, safety and productivity of female journalists and activists in Pakistan. The study indicates a number of contributing factors responsible for the digital abuse and the ways to counter it. The study urges a comprehensive strategy to successfully combat online harassment, including legal reforms, media platforms vigilance, public awareness initiatives and support services.