As a part of my volunteer experience in the field of ethical hacking, I provided free assistance and help to victims who were subjected to online blackmail, sexual exploitation, and sextortion.[1] One day I received a call from a married woman who sold her phone weeks ago through one of the local online websites.
The new buyer hacked one of her social media accounts and found personal pictures in one of the conversations with her ex-fiancé. The new buyer, and now the hacker, threatened to publish her pictures if she does not answer his calls as well as sending extra pictures with specific demands. Unfortunately, she accepted this barter without telling her husband in order not to lose him.
After a while, the cybercriminal demanded some cash in the form of phone recharge cards. Two weeks later, her husband found out and she began to explain that she did that in order to maintain a sustainable marriage. The husband refused to let his wife go to the cybercrime police department and file an official complaint. As the husband was affected intellectually by the surrounding society in terms of the stereotyping that it is forbidden for women to go to any police station, as it is a societal belief that a woman’s going to the police stations are linked to prostitution cases or another shames.
While the extortion continued, her husband also threatened her with divorce if the pictures were published or if she even went to the police station. This was to ensure his wife's reputation in society simultaneously the husband knows that any scandal for his wife is a shame on him, as he is her “guardian””
The guardianship system can be defined and described as a male who “has the authority to make a range of critical decisions on her behalf, in addition to a women’s other male relatives are also granted authority over her, although to a lesser extent than her legal guardian”[2].
We must redefine the “guardianship thought” of a man over his wife in eastern societies in a proper way. belief increases the further we move from the capital, Amman, to the governorates in all directions where there is a higher chance to find more “conservatives”.
The whole scenario is primarily based on the criminal’s implied belief and confidence that the woman will not risk her reputation. Therefore, reporting abusive incidents to the cybercrime department; can be a turning point woman’s life even if it is the only solution for such an obstacle.
From what I have been exposed to, that feminist movements work at least on the levels of legislation, it can be a right that women are prohibited from using in our societies based on conflicts with the “conservative” and “guardianship” considerations.
One way to facilitate the process of incident-reporting and re-traumatizes the victim is to use an electronic communication method. This can preserve the victim's reputation in society, instead of going to the police station when such incidents occur.
[1] Defined as “the practice of forcing someone to do something, particularly to perform sexual acts, by threatening to publish naked pictures of them or sexual information about them” [1]. The cybercriminal enforces the victim to pay money for deleting the victim’s threatening files. Most victims are young males circumvented by males impersonating a girl. It is worth noting that from here the real problem begins with the victim being considered as a source of money for the cybercriminal.
to black-market hackers to solve problems illegally, which can sometimes lead to the victim being exploited some way again.
Keywords: Jordan, Sextortion, Guardianship, Blackmail, Conservative, Feminism, Police, Human Rights.
References:
[1] SEXTORTION: Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved January 13, 2021, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sextortion
[2] The Male Guardianship System. (2020, November 24). Retrieved January 13, 2021, from https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/07/16/boxed/women-and-saudi-arabias-male-guardianship-system#:~:text=A%20woman's%20legal%20guardian%20has,critical%20decisions%20on%20her%20behalf.&text=A%20mahram%2C%20a%20male%20relative,leaves%20a%20domestic%20violence%20shelter
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