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Sexual harassment is an ever-increasing problem in Pakistan and countering it is not easy, especially if you are a female as the highly patriarchal society will always value the voice of males over yours.
On 3rd December 2017, I along with my sisters visited “The Karachi Car-Nival” held at Frere Hall where all types of vintage cars were being showcased. Everything was going fine until my sisters told me, “Appi there is a guy with his friends who are continuously following us.” I turned back and realized it was the same person (around 15 to 16 years old) who I saw the first time we entered the carnival. He was staring at us then too, but I ignored him keeping in mind it was a crowded place; he was just having fun and there was nothing to worry about.
In case you are wondering what we were wearing, it was decent clothing (not that it should matter). Anyhow, the boy along with his gang was following us everywhere: whether it be at a tea stall where we stopped to enjoy some hot tea or whether it be when we were taking pictures with the cars. At this point it couldn’t have been a coincidence they were where ever we went. One of my sisters told me that one of the boys winked at her, moving his tongue seductively and gesturing for her to follow him. My mother has always told me “Beta aese logon k moun mat laga karo. Inko koi farq nahi parta.” However, this time the boy and his friends had crossed their limits.
After the event, we sat outside the tent on the grass and called a private cab. While we were sitting my sisters told me, “Appi us larkay k group k 2 larkay hamare peche kharay hein camera k sath and continuously hamay hi dekh rahay hein.” This time, I decided to teach them a lesson. I stood up and upon seeing me walking towards them they started running. One of them went in the opposite direction but the other was a little distance away from me so I started running after him. Since I was wearing slippers I could not run fast enough and he escaped. We saw his other friends and as we started walking towards them, they began to run, terrified. That was the time they realized “Galat larkion se paala par gaya hai.” They thought that we were like other girls who wouldn’t do anything, but that was their biggest mistake. On our way back to the main gate of Frere Hall, we met two of their friends and they started saying sorry on their behalf. They said, “Hum in logon ko itna smjhate hein k aese na kia karo mgar ye samjhte hi nahi hein. Hamari bhi behnen hein. Hum tou unko yahi bolte hein k koi tumhare sath kuch gaalat kare tou thappar laga dia karo.” We told them that this kind of harassment can never be tolerated and girls are not cowards.
It’s time for every girl to take a stand for themselves and ask others to do the same; to no let others harass them just because they are girls. It is not only boys’ fault but also the responsibility of their parents to raise their sons in a way they would want their daughter’s husband-to-be. In this male-dominated society, people will always downplay wrong actions of males and, in many cases, declare the female to be at fault in such incidences.
