LAHORE:
For a woman confined in the home with limited education and without professional experience, the sudden opportunity to earn money and support her home in difficulties feels like a miraculous ray of hope. However, in a perverted society, predators use this hope to catch naive women and fill their vacancies for victims.
Such was the story of Muqaddas Rahim*, a 35 -year -old single mother from Baghbanpura, Lahore.
After his divorce, he moved to his parents’ house with his three -year -old son and urgently needed financial independence.
“In February of last year, I received a call on WhatsApp from a man who offered me a job. Due to my hard financial situation, I accepted the offer and I was invited to an interview in a place in Iqbal Town. Once I came to the location, I was violated by three men. Although the defendants were arrested and condemned, I have not been able to recover from trauma,” Muqaddas shared.
Unfortunately, however, the case of Muqaddas is not an isolated incident of fraudulent work offers that were used as a tool for sexual violence. In August 2021, a woman looking for employment in Lahore received a job for two men. When he arrived at the designated place, the defendant raped her and threatened to filter her video if she reported it. In September 2021, a mother of two children went to her workplace in Rawalpindi, where she was allegedly violated by the man who had offered her work.
In November 2023, an orphan girl was raped in a group by drunken suspects under the appearance of a job offer in the Raiwind area, and then she was chantajal by the defendants, who filmed her during the crime. In May 2024, a Jhang woman was invited to Lahore for a job interview and was taken to a floor, where five suspects supposedly raped her in a group. Similarly, in July 2024, a girl was raped within the limits of the police station of the career course under the pretext of a job offer. In March of this year, a woman from Faisalabad was taken to an unknown place for a job interview and was subsequently raped.
According to the Federal Research Agency (FIA), a total of 965 incidents of sexual aggression of women under the pretext of a job offer during the last two years were reported. Although 233 cases were reported in 2023 and 569 cases were reported in 2024, 167 incidents have already occurred during the first two months of this year.
Despite an increase of 330 percent in the incidence of such cases in the last three years, the condemnation rate for the accused remains as low as five percent since the majority are released due to insufficient evidence, breach by the plaintiff, reconciliation or simply poor investigation.
According to Maryam Gandapur, activist and human rights lawyer in the Superior Court of Lahore, these figures do not present a precise image of the seriousness of the problem, since most victims of sexual violence in scams of work remain silent for fear of stigmatization. “Even if a victim tells his family, he will not only bring him a shame, but will also prevent him from working anywhere else,” Gandapur said.
“After such incidents, the victims develop a series of psychological problems.
In the first place, they are afraid to reveal this to their families, since they fear that this fogged their reputation, and will not obtain marriage proposals.
Secondly, it is unlikely that the victims take paid employment in the future and even when they do, they constantly fear.
Finally, victims suffer from mental agony for years and can no longer trust men, “said Fatima Tahir, clinical psychologist.
Expressing their concern about the growing incidence of rape through labor fraud, ASP Lahore Syeda Sheherbano Naqvi urged women to adopt surveillance and make background verifications before accepting any job offer done through WhatsApp or phone calls.
“The criminals will generally invite victims to a hotel, residence or guest house for an interview, therefore, women must be alert. In case a woman is trapped in a dangerous situation, he must immediately contact police 15,” Naqvi said.
