Mahnoor, a 32-year-old university lecturer from Pakistan, returned to her childhood home after her marriage broke down, hoping for comfort. Instead, she and her young daughter were met with iciness. It has been over a year and her father and brothers still have not spoken to her. Colleagues she has known for years will not look her in the eye.
The images that changed Mahnoor's life were not nude. They were not sexually explicit. They showed a woman exposing her bare shoulders and wearing Western clothing. Yet those photographs, taken from her private WhatsApp account by her former husband and distributed to male relatives, colleagues and acquaintances, were used to portray her as "a woman of bad character" — an accusation that in many communities can carry life-altering and sometimes fatal consequences.
“Chayn report says tech firms and authorities fail women by focusing on nudity rather than consent in image-based abuse.”
Mahnoor's story is at the centre of a new report by gender justice organisation Chayn, which accuses tech companies and authorities of failing women by focusing on nudity rather than consent when dealing with image-based abuse. Its criticisms are backed by Pakistani actress Ayesha Omar, who says she lost work when images of her in a swimsuit and shorts were shared online.
Like many young women, Mahnoor had saved pictures on her phone — a nice dinner, a selfie with flattering lighting, one after a new haircut, another on an overseas exchange programme with friends, ordinary selfies lying in bed wearing a vest with her eyes closed to show off her eyeliner. None had ever been shared publicly; she rarely posted on social media, mindful of Pakistan's conservative culture.
Her former husband gained access to her WhatsApp account and private images, then cropped photos of her with a group of friends to make it appear she was standing with a single man, insinuating an affair. The consequences were devastating: "I lost my voice," Mahnoor told the BBC. "I no longer felt visible. My family once respected me, my brothers respected me. Having your voice res…"
With friends, family and colleagues barely engaging, Mahnoor says she has lost her social standing and the powerful position she once held in her community. The report argues that focusing on nudity misses the point — the harm lies in the lack of consent, not the content of the image.