PPF urges PEMRA to reverse order prohibiting coverage of F-9 Park rape; ban tantamount to the sweeping issue of sexual harassment under the rug
Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has urged the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to reverse its order prohibiting coverage of a rape at the F-9 Park in Islamabad. While the regulatory body can issue reporting guidelines to maintain the victim’s anonymity, entirely prohibiting coverage of the incident is tantamount to sweeping the issue of sexual harassment under the rug.
Incidents of sexual harassment are pervasive and continue to take place nationwide. Prohibiting coverage of such acts enables an environment of lack of accountability for perpetrators and undermines the importance of reporting incidents of sexual harassment.
According to Dawn, on January 31, a woman was raped at gunpoint at F-9 Park. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against two unidentified persons under Section 376 (punishment of rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
A prohibition order issued by PEMRA, dated February 5, said that some television channels were airing reports regarding the F-9 rape incident in which the victim’s identity had been revealed. On this basis, the regulator has stopped coverage of the incident. The order states: “[…] broadcast/rebroadcast of news/reports regarding the F-9 Park Islamabad incident is PROHIBITED with immediate effect”.
Similarly, in 2020, PEMRA banned the coverage of the gang rape of a woman on a busy highway where a woman was gang-raped in the outskirts of the city of Lahore, leading to outrage and protests by citizens.The media is required not only to cover the incident and action taken against the perpetrators but also to hold those in positions of power to account for the repeat occurrence of such acts of sexual violence. Such blanket bans are counterproductive and take away the media’s ability to play its role in creating public awareness and questioning those in positions of authority about the circumstances that permit such incidents to take place.
The people’s right to access information and the media’s ability to provide it, particularly in incidents regarding citizens’ physical safety and well-being, must not be restricted.
PPF contacted PEMRA’s Director of Operations, Broadcast Media, Umair Azim, who signed the order but refused to comment.
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