WEB DESK: Social media influencer and Tiktoker, Imsha Rehman, has been a hot topic within the country for days now, following the circulation of an alleged obscene video that went viral across various platforms.
The video was wildly shared on WhatsApp and other social media popular across Pakistan, forcing the Tiktoker to delete all her social media handles.
Read more: Video circulating online is ‘fake’, clarifies TikToker Minahil Malik
Despite days having passed since the leak, the public continues to share the video and obsesses over the details. The obsession with what a woman does in private life really begs the question: what are the priorities of a nation supposedly suffering from a crippling economic and political crisis?
Pakistan by all accounts is one of worst places to be a woman. From skewed literary rates (58 per cent literary rate for women compared to 70 per cent for men), to rampant underage marriages of young girls (21 per cent, as per UNICEF).
According to the Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum, Pakistan is ranked 153 out of 156 countries for “Worst Place to be a Woman”. This includes being denied basic rights in terms of economic participation, educational attainment, health and even political empowerment.
And that’s not all! The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported in 2020 that at least 475 women were killed in the name of honour within a single year. Women exercising basic rights to marry whom they want is seen as justification to take their lives by the male relatives in this country.
The World Bank similarly reported in 2021 that women’s labour force participation in Pakistan was a mere 22 per cent. Barriers includes cultural norms, lack of access to education and limited job opportunities. With no independent earning source and complete financial dependency on husbands, few women can escape physical and sexual abusive.
Given such dire conditions, what then possesses a public of 240 million people to obsess over a single TikToker’s video?
While Imsha Rehman’s fans defended her, vast majority have been blaming the victim of a deepfake (fake or doctored videos created using artificial intelligence (AI)) as having released the video herself for ‘cheap publicity’!
This begs the question, what do these women gain besides public censure, ridicule and outright abuse in a conservative, patriarchal society like Pakistan’s?
Rabi Pirzada’s entire career was utterly destroyed when her personal images were leaked.
Most importantly, why is the leak of a fake, viral video of a Tiktoker being concentrated on more than the utterly depraved, horrific news of a pregnant young woman burnt and then chopped up by her in-laws?
The horrific incident occurred in Daska, located in Sialkot district. Her chopped up body parts were found in three different sacks stuffed inside a drain.
She was pregnant as the time of her brutal murder, and was a mother to a three-year-old.
Why is it that cases of brutality against women barely make a blip on Pakistanis’ minds, barely covered by news outlet or on social media, but a fake viral video of Tiktoker, Imsha Rehman, does?
Imsha was forced to deactivate her TikTok and Instagram accounts. A screenshot of her TikTok profile–also shared widely online–read, “Jab take video viral hay[,] maine ID off kar di hai” (Till the time video is viral, I have deactivated my account).
She is also not the first woman who is a victim of deepfake. Fellow TikToker, Minahil Malik faced a similar privacy breach earlier this year.
Both woman, despite being victims of a horrific crime, have been overwhelmingly accused of by the public of orchestrating the incident on purpose to gain attention and expand their social media following.
A female victim of rape is accused of bringing it upon herself, or deliberately orchestrating it (!) to get publicity. Why does no one ask what kind of publicity can women even ‘enjoy’ in a country where they will be abused and condemned?
Time and again we have seen women’s careers or lives destroyed by deepfakes or leaked personal pictures. Why is the accusation always on the victim and not the culprits?
Why is there so little scrutiny regarding why women are subjected to humiliating deepfakes and why are the perpetrators allowed to act with impunity? Why is the focus primarily on directing abuse and censure at the victims – mostly women – rather than pursuing justice against those who create and distribute such horrific content? Or those who leak someone’s personal images?
Imsha’s tragedy sheds light on deeply concerning trends within Pakistan: hypocritical societal attitudes towards women in this highly patriarchal society, lack of accountability for the perpetrators and lack of justice for the victims.
Read more: Pashto poet Mujib Zalmay ‘dismisses’ explicit video as AI hoax
What does this reflect on a society that treats its women so horrifically? The disturbing prevalence of deepfakes targeting women not only highlights their vulnerability in online spaces but reflects a broader culture.
Are women even deserving of basic human decency in this society? When will we start treating women as humans deserving of same respect and treatment as the men?