Chayn Research

Explicit Harms of Non-Explicit Images

Defining Image-Based Abuse in Pakistan and the Diaspora

In most countries where the major tech platforms are based, image-based abuse is defined as sexual in nature. The laws, the moderation systems, and the reporting tools built to protect women were all shaped around one specific kind of harm: nude or explicit images shared without consent.

That definition was not built for everyone.

A photo without a hijab. Dancing at a wedding. A screenshot of a private conversation. None of these are explicit images, but all of them have been used to threaten, blackmail and harm real women in Pakistan and the global Pakistani diaspora.

Over the past two years, Chayn has been speaking with more than 60 Pakistani women — from cities and villages across Pakistan and from the diaspora. They were students, mothers, teachers, activists, celebrities, sex workers and entrepreneurs. They spoke Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Siraiki, Balochi and English.

Our research shows that any image can become a weapon once it is in the wrong hands. What makes an image harmful is not what it shows, but whether there was consent to share it. Nude or ordinary, when an image is shared without consent the harm moves far beyond the survivor — into families, communities, and every part of a woman's life.

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