The Coalition For Women in Journalism condemns the campaign against its member, and prominent Pakistani journalist Marvi Sirmed. The online campaigns against women journalist in the country are reaching unprecedented capacity, this one in particular incites murder of Marvi Sirmed. This falls under incitement of serious crimes against humanity and the authorities must act swiftly to ensure Sirmed’s safety and security.

On March 29, Marvi Sirmed became the target of a new online campaign that is spreading misinformation and inciting people to violence against her. Sirmed was incorrectly linked to a news story about incest. The account that posted the campaign on Facebook goes by the name of Saqib Hussain, started off with installing a false claim that Sirmed brought 10 homeless people to Islamabad and encouraged them to participate in incestous acts. The account is followed by more than 225,000 people.

The post also claims that Sirmed is acting against Islam and wants a “free intercourse, incestous society.” Photos stolen from Sirmed’s Facebook account have been made public, along with other personal details, including her home address, ID card number, and other contact details have also been released.

The post ends by calling on all muslims to murder Sirmed and her “mafia of godless liberals”. Speaking about the growing abuse of women journalists in Pakistan, CFWIJ Founding Director Kiran Nazish says, “Every few days in a month I find myself grappling with a new set of cases of different forms of harassment against women journalists coming from Pakistan. This is unprecedented and we demand the Pakistani government to get involved immediately, to ensure the safety of women journalists in the country.

She also said, “Inciting violence and propaganda against women journalists in the country has become a norm and it is imperative that the government gets involved.”

The CFWIJ demand that social media platforms such as Facebook take a more active role in making sure that the communities they have built are safe for women journalists, along with other users. It is alarming that a campaign of this nature can remain on the platform long enough for dozens if not hundreds of people to consume it.

“Social media is a tool that can be used for great good but is also unfortunately being used for negative purposes that violate fundamental rights and human dignity. Posts targeting women particularly create a negative environment that enables further abuse,” says senior journalist and member of CFWIJ, Beena Sarwar.