Lahore:
For a homemade woman with limited education and no work experience, the sudden opportunity feels to make money and support her fighting household as a miraculous beam of hope. In a perverse society, however, this hope is used as a bait of predators to catch naive women and fill their vacancies for victims.
Such was the story of Muqadda’s Rahim*, a 35-year-old single mother from Baghbanpura, Lahore.
After her divorce, she moved back into her parents’ home with her three -year -old son and had a great need for financial independence.
“Last February, I received a call on WhatsApp from a man who offered me a job. Due to my tough financial situation, I accepted the offer and was invited to an interview in a place in Iqbal town. When I reached the place, I was raped by three men. Although the defendants were arrested and convicted, I have not been able to come from Trauma,” Muqaddas shared.
Unfortunately, Muqadda’s case is not an isolated incident of false job offers used as a tool for sexual violence. In August 2021, a woman seeking employment in Lahore was offered a job by two men. When she reached the designated place, the accused gang raped her and threatened to leak her video if she reported it. In September 2021, a mother of two children went to her workplace in Rawalpindi, where she was allegedly raped by the man who had offered her the job.
In November 2023, an orphaned girl was gang-raped by drunken suspects in the form of a job offer in the Raiwind area and was later blackmailed by the defendants who filmed her during the crime. In May 2024, a woman from Jhang was invited to Lahore for a job interview and was led to an apartment where five suspects allegedly raped her. Similarly, in July 2024, a girl was raped in the field of the racing police station under the pretext of a job offer. In March of this year, a woman from Faisalabad was led to an unknown place for a job interview and was then raped.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), a total of 965 incidents with sexual abuse of women under the pretext of a job offer reported in the last two years. While 233 cases were reported in 2023 and 569 cases were reported in 2024, 167 incidents have already taken place in the first two months of this year.
Despite a 330 percent increase in the incidence of such cases in the last three years, the conviction of the defendants remains as low as five percent, as the majority is released due to insufficient evidence, non -compliance with the applicant, the reconciliation or simply poor investigation.
According to Maryam Gandapur, a human rights activist and lawyer at Lahore High Court, these numbers do not remain an accurate picture of gravity in the problem as the majority of victims of sexual violence in job fraud remain silent for fear of stigmatization. “Even if a victim tells her family, it will not only bring shame for her, but also prevent her from working elsewhere,” Gandapur said.
“After such events, the victims develop a number of psychological problems.
First of all, they are afraid of revealing this to their families as they fear that this will stain their reputation and they will not get marriage proposals.
Secondly, it is unlikely that the victims will take paid employment in the future, and even when they do, they are constantly scared.
Eventually, the victims suffer mental pain for years and can no longer trust men, ”explained Fatima Tahir, a clinical psychologist.
When she expresses her concern about the rising occurrence of rape through job fraud, Asped on Asp Lahore Syeda Shehano Naqvi women to adopt vigilance and carry out background checks before accepting job offers through WhatsApp or phone calls.
“Criminals will usually invite victims to a hotel, residence or guesthouse for an interview Therefore, women need to be aware. If a woman is stuck in a dangerous situation, she must immediately contact police 15,” Naqvi said.
