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To describe the characteristics of a Pakistani woman, we have several myths and stereotypical thoughts like they are weak, they are hesitant of speaking the truth, they are not eligible for doing tough jobs etc. This mindset has sown the seeds of harassment because when a woman goes out at a public place, she is considered as ‘public property’ or a woman of ‘indecent character’. (NOT ALL MEN ARE THE SAME!)
Despite the fact that public harassment is a global phenomenon, there is still some level of decency, especially in Western countries where women can safely travel on buses and in public. When we talk about Pakistan, we see hundreds of stories every second day where women are on the target of sexually deviant men. Last year, when a married woman shared her harassment story, it shocked me. The same happened with us when we were on our trip to northern areas!
In light of our trip to Mushkpuri on 28th of Oct, we would like to confess that the horse riders we met at the top of the hill were harassers. While dismantling from the horse they offered us to grab their shoulders for support and then went on to grab our chest forcefully as if to show that they were trying to help us get off from the horse but it was more than that.
It happened to my friend too after which we made sure that all the other girls getting off the horses from our trip got off safely. Sohaib (in red) and Imran (in brown) were the two horse riders. We refuse to disclose any other details like how we felt, why didn’t we speak up, why didn’t we film the evidence and take any step because we aren’t looking for controversies but would like to make sure that any other girl wouldn’t fall in the hands of their filthy act as we did.
It seemed as if they were habitual of doing such to female tourists so stay safe by asking a friend to mount you on a horse and jump off the horse by sitting in a similar position to how we sit on the bike. Also, don’t try to react without much thought if this happens to you because they are locals and in groups (know the trek well) and many girls have been raped en route treks. Just stay safe, enjoy your trip, steer clear of the locals as much as you can even if they call you ‘baji’ and treat you with respect, stick to the guy groups in your trip and have a safe one.
If you are an organizer, kindly offer security and support to all the females throughout your time of the trip. I would also like to encourage all the guys to volunteer as protectors, we don’t want to spoil your trips but if the trip organizers can appoint volunteers to female groups then maybe this will decrease harassment by a notch and make the trips more enjoyable for female tourists too.
