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Pakistan is a beautiful country and I am proud of my country. As a citizen of Pakistan, I have the right to express my thoughts about anything which I may like or may not like. So, as a citizen of Pakistan, I have noticed an important issue which I think only us, as a nation, can solve.

Harassment is one of the major issues which as a nation, we are currently facing. And, I think everyone should act on this because every single person has a mother, sister, wife. Harassment is not only physical but also mentally. As per a research conducted by UNISON in 2008, more than 50% working women face sexual harassment in Pakistan.

An increasing number of cases are filed on a daily basis, and there is an even bigger number of incidents which go unreported. A total of 24,119 cases of violence against women were reported during 2008–2010 out of which, only 520 workplace harassment cases were filed.

I researched and I analyzed that it’s not how a girl is dressed or how weak she is, it’s all about having some humanity. Because harassment is not only happening at workplaces, there are a lot of cases in which harassment is seen at home as well. Basically, harassment is not only sexual, it also includes the way people see, the way they laugh, the way they analyze a girl who is walking on the street. Harassment is everywhere.

What I have noticed is that, whenever a case of harassment is registered, at the end of the day, everyone will start saying that the girl is to be blamed. And, another thing which I hear most of the time is “kis nay kaha tha jeans pehn kar job par jao?” these types of questions are very common to hear and after this, they scold their parents by saying that ‘ kyun itni azadi di thi larki ko? Ab dekho anjam’. So, my dear people, I want to answer these horrible questions for you.

Firstly, you don’t have any right to question the character of the girl who has been victimized. Secondly, if you don’t know the background of her personal life, then please keep your mouth shut.

It’s not about the way a girl is dressed or why is she working in a private sector or in the government sector. It’s all about your soch. Every Pakistani says that now is the time of freedom. Well, then let me clear something here. Your freedom does not mean that you have the right to everything or anything. It also includes the freedom of mind.

The girl who is working might belong to a poor family and might be helping her family, financially to get them out of it. Oh, and it’s actually a good thing to be the helping hand of her old parents. If a boy can help his parents, then why can’t a girl? I know, because she is a ‘girl’  and she should be kept locked inside her house? NO. She has the same rights, as her brother.

If people think that today’s world is all about freedom, then everyone has the right to be well-dressed and wear whatever they may like like because as per our society and today’s world of freedom, no one out of her family member can question her because if her father is allowing her to dress up like that, then we are nobody to stop her. And if her parents think that she is well-dressed and it will be safe for her to dress up like this, then please stop judging a woman by the way she dresses.

A girl’s dressing is not the cause of harassment. It’s all about the way people think about a woman. A girl wearing hijab also gets harassed by these monsters. See? No one is safe because of the thinking level of our people is so cheap. Yesterday, I saw a small clip on Facebook of a salesman who had a long beard. He would be aged around 60+ or more who was harassing a young girl who went to his shop to buy some goods. Now, please, answer this question, was it her parent’s fault that they let her go out for shopping or was it her dressing?

If every single person starts thinking that he has a mother, daughter, sister or a wife at home and considers every other woman as his mother, daughter or sister and also respects them, I think we can stop this issue and save our daughters from this. It’s all inside the head and I am extremely sorry to say that in our country, not only girls but even boys are being sexually harassed. So, I leave this to you if it’s their fault or fault in your mindset?

I request you all to stop changing others, instead, change your mind.