First day of job started with a
sunny morning and lot of plans for the whole day. Taking all the plans along I
stepped into a minibus that was flooded with people. Fortunately, get the space
to enter into the compartment that was flooded with females cum males. I got
surprised that in spite of the fact that there are just 20 % seats in the bus
for women & rest of the seats are entitled as gent’s area, still male gentry
found in female compartment and using the same door for entry and exit. The
conductor was getting fare from the female passenger by poking its hand and
making space for the collection of money. There was not even the distance of
centimeters between male & female passengers. And asking them to maintain
distance is allowing them to make fun of you. The teasing gestures of driver,
conductor & other male community made this a painful journey. The types of songs
that were played in the bus made it more uncomfortable to even stand there. In
addition to cheap songs the names that driver & conductor was using to address
females, their starring & other cheap acts by male gentry made this is miserable
journey. Being the first exposure the journey of 15 minutes was such a torture
that it felt like a journey of 15 hours or more.
This is the day to day scenario in the era of advancement that has benefited the
world in multiple ways. It’s not regarding advance system or underdeveloped
masses, but it’s about the awareness people have concerning the social issues.
The factor percentage of harassment is reaching up to more than maximum limits
around the globe. The most talked about issue these days is women empowerment &
on the contrary women harassment. Talking about harassment, in Pakistan is
commonly faced by most of the females in public transport is a disgraceful act,
be it a rural or an urban area.
The reason for increase in female harassment is not only lack of education of
the society but also the mindset and our culture i-e lack of acceptance of
female’s behavior to go out of their homes and contribute in daily walk of life.
The concerning matter is that there is no accountability & no policies set up
for the guilty, even if there are evidences.
Harassment is not only physical, but it is also purely confronting in relation
to non-physical acts. Harassment is not only top stare for long to please your
desires or to harm women abusively. Other than this the abusive language used
for females by the illiterate or ill-mannered people is also a type of
harassment.
Girls, from childhood to teens and from teens to being adults, the events of
harassing females are very common. Due to lawlessness & non immediate reporting
behavior the criminal activities are easily escaped from charge scenario &
guilty picture.
From locals to elite the harassment of females is always over looked & barely
managed safely. The idea is not to pin point the framed faces because the change
is required from very low levels that is possible by increasing awareness &
spreading education. Until the humanity of every class, sect & religion raise
their dignity, this harassment bug will exist as a leech & as a result society
will suffer, where females will have fear, negative personalities with loss of
their integrity & confidence.
People need to raise their standard of thinking whether it’s their relative or
any other person from the society. That can only be done with education &
awareness that will ultimately change the behavior & attitude of people towards
women. Particularly about this public transport male gentry should not be
allowed to enter in the female compartment even if it has vacant seats. Public
awareness sessions should be done for females at mass and community level to
raise their voice for their rights & get the harassment events registered as law
has provision of it. Government need to take initiative to make implementation
of act & rules for harassment & punishment to guilty so that this culture of
ruling over females should be stopped. Further government and other concerned
authorities should work hand in hand to make this transport facility a female
friendly transport.