Woman who says Imran Khan harassed her faces wave of abuse

PAKISTAN - When the Pakistani politician Ayesha Gulalai Wazir accused the cricketstar-turned-opposition-leader Imran Khan of sexual harassment, the vitriol unleashed against her was swift and vicious.

First, leaders of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) party which Gulalai also belongs to publicly denounced her and demanded 30 million rupees in compensation for damage to his reputation and “mental torture”. On social media, some said Gulalai, 31, should have acid thrown in her face, others that she should be whipped. She was called a liar and a carpetbagger. Mocking TV hosts asked, smirking, if she actually wanted to marry the man she accused. Gulalai says the political backlash is evidence of the abuse reserved for Pakistani women who venture to speak out publicly against harassment abuse that increasingly takes place online. “They have sent a message to women of Pakistan, that if you speak out against misuse of authority, you will face this kind of attitude,” Gulalai told the Guardian. “And this is from PTI who stand for change in Pakistan because of this culture, women will keep mum.” Gulalai says Khan began sending her “inappropriate” text messages in 2013, including sexual intimations and propositions to see him alone, and that he persisted after she rebuked him.

(Theguardian.com)