Athens, Dec 1 (IANS) Under Pakistan’s Army chief Asim Munir, press freedom has shrunk dramatically in the country over the past three years, with women journalists bearing the brunt of a broader pattern of gender-based repression, a report highlighted on Monday.

It added that harassment of female journalists in Pakistan has become a troubling norm encompassing not only physical intimidation but also widespread digital abuse.

“Pakistan’s record on women’s rights continues to decline, and 2025 has only reinforced this grim trajectory. The latest outrage came when the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) slammed the government for using the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) to register cases against female journalists who criticized state institutions. The journalists were accused of spreading ‘false information’ and ‘anti-state propaganda,; charges that are notoriously vague and serve as convenient tools to silence dissent,” a report in Athens-based ‘Geopolitico’ detailed.

“PFUJ warned that this trend has become routine under the current military-backed government, with women journalists facing harassment, online abuse, and fabricated legal charges simply for doing their jobs. The use of PECA, a law originally designed to curb cybercrime, against reporters has become one of the sharpest weapons of repression in Pakistan. When women in the press are punished for speaking truth to power, it lays bare not only the fragility of Pakistan’s institutions but the deep-seated hostility towards women’s voices in public life,” the report detailed.

On global gender-equality indices, Pakistan consistently remains among the poorest performers, with the World Economic Forum ranking it near the bottom of its Global Gender Gap Report.

“The statistics are damning: nearly one in three women experiences domestic violence; literacy rates for women remain far lower than men; workplace participation is minimal; and women politicians and activists regularly face intimidation. The persistence of so-called “honour killings” is another stark reminder of the dangers faced by Pakistani women,” the report mentioned.

According to the report, Pakistan is fostering a culture where women face threats to both safety and voice, journalists are censored and harassed, activists are branded as traitors, and ordinary women either become victims of honour killings or languish in a failing justice system.

It stated that Munir’s tenure has coincided with a harsher crackdown on dissent, and women bear the heaviest impact of the authoritarian shift in the country.

“Pakistan will remain trapped between systemic discrimination and state repression as the state institutions continue to weaponise laws like PECA, repress women journalists, and turn a blind eye to gender-based violence. The trajectory suggests not progress but regression, where women’s rights are erased under the combined weight of patriarchal culture and army-controlled authoritarian governance,” the report noted.

–IANS

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