According to the official data received by Hum English News, in the last five years, about 1.8 million women in Pakistan have been victims of cyber crimes. Despite the dangerous increase in digital offenses, the sentence rate is disappointingly low.
An investigation by Hum English News team exposed online harassment and harassing trends in targeting women in cybercrime. Official data shows that over 2.7 million digital crime complaints have been filed with officials across Pakistan during the last five years.
We English said that one of these complaints was filed by 80 percent of women and children, with 1.8 million women contacting agencies like Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), police and federal Lokpal.
These complaints registered more than 8,000 cases and arrest of more than 11,000 suspects. However, only 225 persons – 3.5 percent of those accused were convicted.
Investigations have also revealed that any institution has compiled appropriate records or data on millions of women affected by cyber crime, which highlights a major difference in documentation.
According to English, “96 percent of women who contacted law enforcement agencies did not get any justice.” The issue affects both working women and housewives, increasing online crimes.
The recent incidents give an example of the increasing threat to cyber crimes, such as a deepfack video that changed the footage of a Pakistani officer with a UAE representative. The manipulation staged a formal protest against the UAE government, increasing concerns about the misuse of artificial intelligence in cyber crimes.
Beyond personal harassment, cyber fraud has caused adequate financial damage. Hum English said, “Increase in cyber crimes, especially on social media, has not only suffered economic damage, but has also been fraud of Rs 700 billion in the last five years, which is ruining the personal lives of countless individuals.”
Government records indicate that Fiah’s cybercrime wing received more than 639,000 complaints between 2020 and 2024, including crimes such as online harassment, fraud, religious hatred and condemnation.
In verified complaints, 414,260 cases of 73,825 investigation and 5,713 court cases were reported. While the authorities arrested 7,020 suspects, only 222 were convicted, underlining important challenges in dealing with digital offenses in the country.
