Street harassment, irrespective of age and dressing, is experienced by every other woman in the country. The fact that they are women and on the road is enough for them to be harassed. The same happened with a minor girl who was just walking on the street when a motorcyclist groped her and rode away.
At this point, It has become evident that it is not about what a woman is wearing but the mentality of men, as well as the absence of stringent harassment laws, that has aggravated the situation. We Pakistanis take pride in our ‘Islamic’ country. However, in reality, our country is adamant about going against the teachings of Islam.
The presence of a female in the public space in Pakistan is unsettling. The degrees of street harassment in the Pakistani city vary from leering, ‘checking out’, and catcalling to stalking and physical assault.
In a similar case, a minor girl who appears to be under the age of 10 was groped by a biker. A video has come to the surface in which she could be seen walking on a street. Meanwhile, a man on a bike, passing by, molests her and rides away.
It is pertinent to note that the victim was modestly dressed and clad in a long dupatta fully covering her. Most of the time, when a girl is harassed on the streets, she is blamed for being inappropriately dressed. In reality, as apparent in this case, women face harassment regardless of their dressings.
Here is the video
The Twitter user also shared the close-up of the harasser
The problematic aspect of harassment in Pakistan is society’s inherent attitude of shushing women up. Most men do not even consider it to be a crime at all. In fact, society has conditioned men into believing that any woman who dares to step out of the house without a male must be ready to face all sorts of harassment.
In a male-dominant country where misogyny runs deeply, it is the responsibility of the government to provide protection to women. However, PM Imran Khan in a recent telethon rather endorsed the mentality of equating rape with a lack of modesty. As if the list of reasons why women in Pakistan do not feel safe was already distressingly long, PM also chose victim-blaming for which he should apologize.
Men shamelessly grope women in Pakistan. When women say they wish to reclaim space, this is what they mean; they should not have to step out of their house hoping and praying that they are not attacked for the simple reason of stepping out of her house.
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