TECHNOLOGY-facilitated gender-based violence is escalating at an alarming rate globally. According to a report by the Digital Rights Foundation, 3,171 TF GBV complaints were reported from across Pakistan in 2024. The lack of a standard definition used to be a significant and persistent gap in the protection of women and girls. To address this, UN Women and WHO, through a joint global programme on Violence Against Women Data, convened an expert group in 2022 to define TF GBV. It was described as “...any act that is committed, assisted, aggravated, or amplified by the use of information and communication technologies or other digital tools, which results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological, social, political, or economic harm, or other infringements of rights and freedoms”.

According to a 2024 UN report on technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, women in the public eye and marginalised females are most affected by TF VAWG — they include women journalists, politicians, activists and young women and girls.

In Pakistan, many systems and special protection mechanisms have been established to protect women and children from TF GBV, including the FIA’s cybercrime wing and........

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