Dear all, Digital Rights Foundation's Cyber Harassment Helpline marks another milestone in its short but prolific history--the release of our six months operations report <https://digitalrightsfoundation.pk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Cyber-Harassment-Helpline-Six-Month-Report.pdf> .
The Cyber Harassment Helpline is Pakistan’s first dedicated helpline addressing issues of online abuse and violence by providing a free, safe, gender-sensitive and confidential service. Launched December 1, 2016, the Helpline Support Staff gives legal advice, digital security support and psychological counselling to victims of online harassment. The toll free number [0800-39393] is available to people looking for help between 9am till 5pm, Monday to Friday. These quarterly reports give us the opportunity to share our success, and the challenges we faced, with our partners and also ensures transparency. We wish to use the following findings to pursue data-driven advocacy. According to our findings, the Cyber Harassment Helpline has received 763 complaints in the form of calls, emails and Facebook messages from December 1, 2016 till May 31, 2017. 63% of the calls were made by women, whereas 37% of the calls were made by men. Facebook remains the most widely reported platform where people face the most harassment. Among the kinds of harassment reported, complaints of fake profiles, non consensual use of information, blackmailing, hacked accounts and devices and unsolicited messages were the most common ones. The Cyber Harassment Helpline also started identifying the mental health consequences of cyber harassment with a descriptive and psychological review of the calls. It was identified that out of a sample of 50 callers who gave psychological data, 18% experienced fear and 18% felt anger which further led to depression (17%), insecurities (19%), disturbed sleep (15%), withdrawal from family and friends (14%), anxiety/paranoia (10%), suicidal thoughts (5%), chronic stress (16%) and problems in relationships (4%). Building on this data, the Digital Rights has identified some recommendations for the government and law enforcement agencies to improve the reporting mechanism regarding online violence. The recommendations can be found at page 26 of the report. We hope that you will continue to support us and collaborate with us to build on these findings and make the internet a safer space for all. Media coverage so far https://www.dawn.com/news/1346104 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jul/17/sextortion-revenge-porn-woman-fighting-cyber-abuse-pakistan-nighat-dad-qandeel-baloch http://nation.com.pk/national/18-Jul-2017/cyber-harassment-helpline-gets-763-complaints-since-december-to-may https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2017/07/digital-rights-foundations-cyber-harassment-helpline-completes-six-months-of-operations-launches-report/ Best, Nighat Dad
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