All girls arent call girls
KARACHI: For a young woman in the city, standing at bus stops after a day at college or work is becoming increasingly difficult.
This difficulty however, is not because of the hot and humid weather, rather, it is because of the countless men who stop their cars on the road whenever they see a lone woman standing at a bus stop or walking towards it.
They pass all kinds of remarks at them, stare at them in the crudest of ways and ask them whether they would like to be dropped somewhere, probably thinking that all girls are call girls.
Sabina, in her late 20s told how a lot of men while returning from their offices in the evening; make desperate attempts to attract women.
Once I was standing at Tariq Road when a man, who was wearing a shirt and tie and had an office identity card around his neck, stopped his car right in front of me. When I ignored him and walked towards a spot where a family was standing, he had the guts to turn back and stare at me for a good few minutes before he finally drove away!
In Sabinas opinion, it is always better to ignore such people for she thinks that creating a show about such losers only dramatises the situation further.
On the other hand, there are some girls, who consider teaching these people a lesson in public is definitely worth it.
A college girl recalled, I was waiting for a bus in the afternoon once, when a car stopped and the driver continuously asked if I needed a lift. I moved away, he pulled up his car windows but still followed me. When my patience ran thin, I walked up to him, banged his windows and shouted at him ruthlessly. People gathered, the man was embarrassed and he sheepishly drove away.
Another effective way of dealing with such inconsiderate creatures as is to take a nearby policemans help. When these eve teasers tend to see a policeman they flee.
But how frequently do women complain about such issues?
Traffic constable Shahid Babar told, In three years of work, there was only one instance when a lady gestured for help when a man was behaving indecently with her, and he swiftly fled before we even approached him.
Another traffic constable working for 10 years Saeed Iqbal said, According to my estimate, 50 percent men on the road send inviting signals to women whenever they get a chance.
Whether a women wears a burqa, takes hijab or wears what people call a modern dress, all of them complain they have been harassed on the road.
Karachi-based sociologist Nabeel Zubairi observed, This trend of bothering women on the roads is increasing, because their image has become drastically distorted at homes. Women used to have a stable status in the past, but now their perception in the eyes of men has become limited to that of a toy, thanks to our so-called transition towards industrialisation.
Suggesting a solution, Zubairi said, These mentally sick people can only be disciplined through proper legislation regarding abuse issues. There is also a dire need for educating children at schools about their rights.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
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