Pakistani teenager Zara Shah was targeted by a stranger while playing a computer game, drawn into a conversation that would expose her to terrifying online sexual exploitation.
asserted
that → target → exploitation
Zara, whose name has been changed by AFP for safety reasons, is one of an estimated 1.5 million children in Pakistan who experienced online sexual abuse in one year, according to a report published by the UN children’s agency this month.
“We started chatting while playing an online game, and he began acting like a friend.
uncertain
he → change → friend
Later, he wanted to meet and, after, started asking me for nudes,” 17-year-old Shah said.
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Shah → want → nudes
“When I refused, he threatened to find my family online and tell them that we had been talking,” she added.
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she → refuse → them
According to the Unicef report, around 85 per cent of perpetrators were known to the victims, aged between 12 and 17.
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cent → accord → 12
“The abuse may start with a friendly conversation, a gaming interaction, a promise of gifts, money or romance,” Daniel Kardefelt, lead author of the global Unicef report, told AFP.
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Kardefelt → start → AFP
“Perpetrators may spend months building trust using information that they find on social media,” Kardefelt said.
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Kardefelt → spend → media
In Muslim-majority Pakistan, 71pc of victims did not tell anyone, according to the Unicef report, while no child surveyed reported the abuse through formal channels — including police, helplines or social workers.
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child → tell → police
Their silence was mostly because of stigma, shame and fears over how their families or society may react.
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families → react → stigma
“Around 44pc of reported abuse was entirely online, with Snapchat and WhatsApp among the most common settings,” said Mehek Naeem, director of Pahchaan, a children’s rights organisation based in Lahore.
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Naeem → report → Lahore
Girls can face heightened risks of sexual extortion, which can lead to restrictions on their mobility or withdrawal from school.
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which → face → school
For Zara, the threat of being exposed to her family was enough to keep her silent.
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threat → expose → her
“I could have been stopped from going to school or leaving the house altogether,” she said.
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she → stop → house
“Staying quiet felt like the better option than speaking up.
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Staying → stay → option
But anxiety kills me every day.”
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anxiety → kill → me
With around 74pc of children aged 12 to 17 in Pakistan estimated by Unicef to be internet users, concerns over online safety are growing as their access to digital platforms expands.
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access → age → platforms
Echoing other policies around the world, the provincial government in Punjab this month passed a resolution to bar children under 16 from using social media.
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government → echo → media
However, it has faced opposition.
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it → face → opposition
“I disagree with the ban,” said Usama Khilji, a digital rights activist.
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Khilji → disagree → ban
“It will be a challenge to implement, and children can circumvent the ban through VPNs.
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children → implement → VPNs
Children have the right of freedom of expression, and a ban takes that away,” he said.
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he → have → that
Pakistan has a legal framework addressing tech-facilitated offences against children, but “there is no implementation”, said Tahira Afrasiyab, a spokesperson for non-profit organisation Muslim Hands.
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Afrasiyab → have → Hands
Human rights lawyer Salman Afridi said this issue shows how “economic vulnerability can be weaponised” for amounts as small as Rs10,000 in exchange for the production of sexual content.
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vulnerability → say → content
“What we are seeing is the use of technology to facilitate an entire chain of grooming, inducement, coercion, blackmail, production, distribution and commercialisation,” he said.
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he → see → grooming
“There is a strong basis for describing this as a commercial ecosystem of exploitation,” Afridi added.
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Afridi → be → exploitation
For Zara and many others like her, the consequences of an encounter that began with an online game remain difficult to escape.
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that → begin → game
“I was, and am, scared,” she said.
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she → say → ?
“I live in fear.”
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I → live → fear
The Aporia
