The women of Pakistan are not safe
KARACHI: On the morning August 24, my aunt and I were stuck in a traffic jam caused by the setting up of election camps and parked vehicles of television channels on MA Jinnah Road in Karachi. Suddenly, a man appeared from nowhere and knocked at my window. I got scared and signalled for him to leave. He went behind my car and in the middle of the traffic jam, bent down and peeped from behind our car shades. He also appeared to be urinating or acting to do so while bent down. Ensuring that there were only two of us, he quickly put his hand on the side mirror, twisted it and bolted in seconds with the mirror. My aunt and I felt numbness setting in. We remain seated in our car in disbelief.
“Safety for women” is a slogan we often hear. The real question is: are we really working to implement these slogans? Many people in that traffic jam must have seen this act, but none of them came out of their cars to stop the man from urinating nor raised their voices against his shameful act. The women of Pakistan are not safe. It is not always about the attack on our dignities, but sometimes attacks on our moralities as well.
Soha Jafry
Published in The Express Tribune, August 27th, 2016.
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