Online Attacks Against Women Journalists
Online attacks against Pakistani women journalists has been an ongoing notorious trend. We have been developing a thorough research on different tendencies of online trolls in Pakistan. We have documented the following examples by various troll accounts to reflect kind of vicious assaults women journalists face on a daily day basis. In the following page you will find some of an archive we are developing to present the kind of trolling Pakistan women journalists face and the most common sources of these trolls.
If you find any of the following information incomplete or would like request an edit, please do not hesitate to email us at report@womeninjournalism.org
Note by Our Founder
Our work below identifies women journalists in Pakistan who are trolled most excessively. Although women in general are targeted in online and offline spaces in Pakistan; this may include politicians, lawyers, academics, human rights defenders, public servants and even scientists, our scope of work focuses and documented the harassment that journalists face for their free speech. In that we would like to acknowledge women in all other professions who are unfairly and often inhumanely targeted.
We have noticed different political changes around the world often leading to an increase of trolling against the press, where women are often targeted more viciously and inhumanely. This is true for Pakistan as well.
Women journalists in Pakistan are being trolled by all sides; public followers of certain leaders, automated bots with certain biases, politically affiliated candidates, pro military accounts, and even democratically elected public representatives.
We find these trolls an essential tool that offends and obstructs democratic values and democracy itself. We hope an effort to illuminate the gravity of this matter will help all sides make an effort to abolish online trolling.
We invite all stakeholder to help us in the effort to bring more awareness on the issue and find solutions to this problem that affects us all.
Thank you!
Kiran Nazish
Mehmal Sarfaz
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI and misogynists.
Mehmal Sarfraz is the regional Deputy Secretary General of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), an associated media body of SAARC and Joint General Secretary of South Asian Women in Media (SAWM), a platform committed to fight gender-based violence and promote women’s rights in SAARC countries. Previously, she has worked as the Executive Director of Vanguard Books, The Friday Times and Good Times magazine, as lead analyst in a project on child rights violations with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and UNICEF, as the Op-Ed Editor of Daily Times, as Programmes Officer/Principal Information Officer at SAFMA, and as Deputy Editor of The Post. She tweets at @Mehmal
Asma Shirazi
Source of trolling indicates: Misogynistic/Islamist attack.
Asma Shirazi is a Pakistani journalist and political commentator who hosts a primetime current-affairs show on Aaj News.
Born in Islamabad, Shirazi studied political science at Punjab University, she worked as a radio presenter with Radio Pakistan and later moved to Geo News. In 2006, Shirazi became Pakistan's first female war correspondent when she reported from the 2006 Lebanon War and later from Pakistan-Afghanistan border in 2009. Shirazi is a member of The Coalition For Women In Journalism. She tweets @asmashirazi
Ayesha Bakhsh
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI
Before working for Geo News, Bakhsh worked as an anchor on Ary News. Later, in January 2007, Ayesha joined Geo Television and is currently Pakistan's Geo TV's Senior Newscaster. Her first appearance on television as an anchor was on Geo’s programme, Nazim Hazir Ho. She also hosted Crisis Cell, Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Saath, and Laakin during the absence of their permanent hosts. At present she is working on GNN News.
In 2012 and 2014, she won the Best Newscaster (Female) at the 3rd and 4th Pakistan Media Awards. As of 2015, she hosts the talk show News Room and nowadays she is hosting a new talkshow Report Card. She tweets @AyeshaBakhsh
Farieha Aziz
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI and misogynist attack.
Farieha Aziz is Karachi-based, APNS-award winning journalist. Ms. Aziz is the Co-founder and Director at Bolo Bhi. She has a masters in English literature. She worked with Newsline from July 2007-January 2012 and taught literature to grades 9-12.
Ms. Aziz served as Amicus Curiae on The Lahore High Court case for unblocking of YouTube. She can be found on Twitter: @FariehaAziz
Amber Shamsi
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI and Islamist attack.
Amber Rahim Shamsi is an award-winning multimedia journalist who hosts the Newswise news and current affairs show on Dawn News. She has worked with the BBC World Service as a bilingual reporter, presenter and producer. Twitter: @AmberRShamsi
Meher Bokhari
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PML-N party
Bokhari started her career as a journalist and a host on TV news programs for SAMAA TV.[1] She had a stint with Dunya News after departing from SAMAA. Currently, she is employed by Dawn News as a talkshow anchorperson. Bokhari was born in 1983 and during her early years, raised in Pakistan. She went abroad in pursuit of higher education, but later returned to pursue her professional career in Pakistan. She tweets @meherbokhari
Benazir Shah
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI Islamist troll attacks
Benazir Shah is quite the powerhouse of talent. A reporter with Newsweek who has also received the U.N. Correspondents Association Award for her cover story with Sami Yousafzai and Shehrbano Taseer on Pakistan’s polio murders, her work on women includes a detailed report on the emergence of female suicide bombers in Pakistan. She tweets @Benazir_Shah
Gharidah Farooqi
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to Islamist political parties and misogynist attacks
Gharidah Farooqi (Urdu: غریدہ فاروقی born on 1 April 1978 in (Rawalpindi , Pakistan) is a Pakistani television host and anchorperson. Gharidah has worked with PTV Home, ATV (Pakistan), Dunya TV, Geo News, Samaa TV (in 2012) and is currently (in 2017) a Senior Anchor Person at Express News. She tweets @GFarooqi
Marium Chaudhry
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI
Marium Chaudhry is a senior producer for news and programming at Geo News in Karachi, Pakistan. She is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate in broadcast journalism and international studies and a Fulbright-Hays scholar. She tweets @MariumCh
Ayesha Tanzeem
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI
Ayesha Tanzeem heads VOA’s Pakistan and Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau based in Islamabad, Pakistan. She is one of a few foreign correspondents who have traveled to areas under the control and influence of the Islamic State militant group while it was at the peak of its power in eastern Afghanistan in 2015. Her reporting that brought to light tales of harrowing cruelty and suffering earned her the David Burke award for Courage in Journalism.
Previously, she hosted two VOA current affairs TV shows: “On the Line” and “Access Point with Ayesha Tanzeem." She tweets @atanzeem
Najia Ashar
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI and Misogynistic trolls
Najia is a broadcast journalist in Pakistan. She has been a senior anchor and producer for news channel 'Geo News' for 10 years. In 2014, she was awarded the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship 2014-15 at Stanford. Before joining Geo News, Ashar worked for Pakistan Television Network as an anchor/host from 2003 to 2004, hosting Night Time Transmission, conducting the daily programme The Parliamentary Note Book and also hosting the weekly Cultural Round-up for PTV World.
As a journalist, she reported and covered various historical events, including the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto 2007, the 2008 US presidential election, Pakistani general election and many other important coverages.
Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to Misogynistic and Islamist political parties
As a journalist and human rights activist – Annie Zaman has been working for more than 10 years in Pakistan, Germany and Britain to create awareness about various socio-political issues and gather more voices in support of a progressive and tolerant global society.
After working as a full-time journalist at Pakistan’s Daily Times and Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Annie moved on to more adventurous projects with various advocacy groups, raising her voice and words for labour rights, minority rights, and rights of journalists in conflict zones. At the time of the last general election in Pakistan, she launched a virtual newsroom for citizen journalists under the umbrella of PakVotes (PV). She is a regular contributor to Global Voices, co-editor of GV-Urdu, and speaks English, German, Urdu and Punjabi.
She tweets at @natrani.
Ramsha Jehangir
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI
Journalist covering tech & human rights, mis/disinformation, internet censorship, trolls & digital politics | data hoarder at DAWN. She tweets @ramsajahangir
Aleena Farooq Sheikh
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI
In 2013, Aleena did her BBA and then joined media. Since January 2017, she is an anchor of Geo News. She tweets @FarooqAleena
Reema Omer
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to Misogynistic attack
She is a legal advisor but writes for Geo News, Dawn, The News International, Scroll.in, Daily Times, Inter Press Service, New Age (Bangladesh), The Friday Times. She tweets @reema_omer
Mehreen Zahra Malik
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to Misogynistic and Pro PTI
Mehreen Zahra-Malik is the Assistant Editor of Islamabad-based The News International. She tweets @mehreenzahra
Munizae Jahangir
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI Misogynists
Munizae Jahangir is a Pakistani journalist and filmmaker who currently hosts the current affairs program Spotlight on Aaj TV. She tweets @MunizaeJahangir
Marvi Sirmed
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI, Pro-army, Islamist far right, anti-hindu, misogynists
Marvi Sirmed is a Pakistani political commentator, journalist, and human rights activist. She works freelance. She tweets @marvisirmed
Sana Bucha
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI
Sana Bucha is a freelance Pakistani news anchor, who appears in prime time news talk shows. She tweets @sanabucha
Reham Khan
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI, Misogynistic attack
She is a Libyan-born British Pakistani freelance journalist, author, and filmmaker. She tweets @RehamKhan1
Fauzia Yazdani
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to Islamist attack
She writes for Daily Times. She tweets @yazdanifauzia
Gul Bukhari
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI, and pro military accounts
Gul Bukhari is a British-Pakistani liberal journalist and columnist. She tweets @GulBukhari
Aima Khosa
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI and Misogynistic trolls
News editor at The Friday Times. Formerly Express Tribune. She tweets @aimaMK
Farhat Javed
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to Misogynists
Bilingual Correspondent @ BBC she tweets @FarhatJRabani
Tanzeela Mazhar
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI and Misogynistic trolls
Anchor @gtvnetworkhd, Writer, #Gender #Media, Co-founder http://wimapakistan.org @Cfwij contribute @indyUrdu @Nayadaur Independent Consultant @UNDP @GIZ @MMFD She tweets @TenzilaMazhar
Nasim Zehra
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to Misogynistic mentality, and pro-military
Nasim Zehra is a Pakistani journalist and writer who hosts a primetime current affairs talkshow on Channel 24.
Zehra studied business at the Quaid-e-Azam University and diplomacy at the Fletcher School at Tufts University in 1989. She worked as a development practitioner, working with the Canadian International Development Agency and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Zehra served as a visiting lecturer at the School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in 2006, and later at the Quaid-e-Azam University in 2010.
Ailia Zehra
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to anti Pushtoon Tahafuz Movement, Misogynistic attacks and pro military accounts.
Journalist. News Editor @nayadaurpk
Formerly @dailytimespak & @ePakistanToday. She tweets @AiliaZehra
Afshan Masab
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to PTI
Afshan Masab is a freelance journalist known for her Youtube channel critical of the government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Check her work here.
Farahnaz Ispahani
Source of trolling indicates: bias linked to religious extremism
Farahnaz Ispahani is an author, a scholar and has also served as a member of the Pakistani parliament. However, in the formative years of her career, she was a television journalist. Throughout her dynamic career, Farahnaz has been a voice for women and the religious minorities in Pakistan. Her book ‘Purifying The Land of The Pure: Pakistan’s Religious Minorities, was published in 2015 by Harper Collins, India.
In the same year, she was a scholar at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington DC, United States. She was a Member of Parliament between 2008 and 2012. During her time there, she focused on issues of terrorism, human rights, gender-based violence, minority rights and US-Pakistan relations. She has also advocated for the legislation on women’s harassment in the workplace and acid crimes. @fispahani
Gulalai Ismail
Source of trolling indicates: Bias linked to being an agent who works against the interest of her country i.e. Pakistan.
Gulalai Ismail is a human rights activist who belongs to the northern province of Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. She is the founder of a non-governmental organisation called Aware Girls that aims to address violence against women and girls.
She currently based in the United States.
According to Gulalai, she left the country because she raised her voice against sexual assault following which she was booked in treason and terrorism-related cases.
@Gulalai_Ismail
