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If people could just stop victim-blaming Rabi Pirzada, that'd be great

If people could just stop victim-blaming Rabi Pirzada, that'd be great

On Friday, the singer's personal photos and videos of a sexual nature were made public against her will.
Updated 02 Nov, 2019

On Friday, singer Rabi Pirzada's personal photos and videos of a sexual nature were leaked and widely circulated on social media. Many watched and many more had a lot to say.

"She shouldn't have made those videos in the first place."

"Ladies, beware and don't believe in dekh kar delete kardunga."

Some doubted the authenticity of the videos and came up with their own conspiracy theories about who could be behind the leak.

None of that matters.

Whether or not those videos are real and whether or not they were properly deleted should not be anyone's concern. Whether she really made them or why is also nobody's business; she is entitled to sexual privacy just like any other public or private figure.

What matters is that they were clearly made public against her will and weaponised against her.

We need put an end to this victim-blaming mentality and put the shame where it belongs, with the offender of an electronic assault such as this, not the victim whose privacy was violated.

And she is a victim here. The dissemination of explicit videos or photos without their consent subjects a person to emotional distress, psychological trauma and public humiliation.

In a country like Pakistan, where women exercising their sexual agency can bring "dishonour" to the family, circulating images of such nature can have even more dangerous consequences.

Whether her videos were leaked in revenge for a perceived slight, to blackmail her or by someone who came across an old phone she sold to the second hand market does not change the fact that leaking private personal data without consent of its owner and subject is unethical. And a crime, under the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.

If convicted, an individual can be sent to prison and fined as well. However, this hasn't stopped the spate of hate.

What is also deeply disturbing is that even now, more than 24 hours later, men on social media are still openly asking for and sharing her videos, collecting and trading them like Pokemon cards, and hashtags are inundated with links to download.

The expression of faux outrage is particularly hypocritical; those who seek and watch the videos are the same ones involved in harassing, publicly shaming and ridiculing Pirzada for making them in the first place.

In her latest tweet since the incident, Pirzada has written that whoever conceals the faults and sins of another, God will do the same for them on the Day of Judgement:

Stop sharing the 'leaked' data. Report those posts. Instead of slut-shaming and moral policing her, start calling out the perpetrator who violated her consent.

We're hoping Pirzada is staying strong in the face of such dreadful abuse and vehemently condemn this breach of her and any person's privacy.


Complaints related to cyber crimes and online harassment can be reported to the Federal Investigation Agency here.

Comments

Reborn Nov 02, 2019 03:13pm
I don't get the hoopla. She's got nothing special that 3.8 billion women living on this planet don't. Same goes for men. We're all biologically human, with the same body parts. I guess that's the doctor in me speaking. People will forget this nonsense in a day or two, and move on other shenanigans. But, the writer here has made very valid points on privacy.
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nasir Nov 02, 2019 03:54pm
Name and face of editorial writer plz
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Nargis Nov 04, 2019 09:48am
@nasir and that matters why...? Does it change the validity of the argument...?
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Ayesha khan Nov 04, 2019 05:59pm
Feeling bad about the whole thing. Should not have happened.
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Vijay B. Nov 04, 2019 10:20pm
I am from India and thus had never heard of this young lady singer named Rabi Pirzada until now. And yet i feel compelled to vehemently express my opinion in support of her and against all those low lives who started this and also the others continue to revel in this disgraceful act of making her life miserable for some pictures she imprudently made at some time of her life. I wish her the strength to go past this hurdle and carry on with her life instead of stressing out and giving up her career. That would be succumbing to all these nasty people. To those who are supposedly blackmailing her and those going after wanting to see them, shame on you. If you get such a big kick out of seeing women sans their clothes you can find a zillion of similar pics on line and spend the rest of your lives looking at them. Anatomically most women look the same and remember your wife, mother, daughters and sisters look the same too.
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sarim Nov 05, 2019 09:55am
Leave the poor girl alone.... It is her private moment . she has every right to do whatever she pleases. If this was a boy - it would never have been talked about. Invasion of someones privacy is ethically morally and religiously wrong. Furthermore judging her is even a bigger problem. We are all hypocrites. Please give her a break and stop maligning her
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Faheem Nov 05, 2019 05:39pm
@nasir .. Your comments have threatening tone. You should be ashamed on yourself. This nation has more uncivilised literates than the Illiterates.
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