Pakistan Archives | Page 3 of 3 | Stop Street Harassment

Let’s add another city to the list of places where a study shows harassment on public transportation is a big problem, shall we? It’s Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Social Research and Development Organisation (SRDO) surveyed 75 women commuters in Islamabad, aged 19 to 45, to find out more about women’s experiences with sexual harassment during their commute, particularly on “public transport wagons and buses.”

In the survey, the women “disclosed that inappropriate touching, making sexual comments and staring by male passengers is overwhelmingly rife. The respondents, however, made it clear that the incidents of harassment are far lesser in rickshaws and taxis.”

Via The International News:

“Farhana Hussain, a women rights activist, said, ‘We should not see the issue, harassment of women in public transport, in isolation as it is an open fact that harassment and violence against women inside four walls and on the streets is just one feature of our male dominated structure that always put blame on victims instead of helping them.’

She said successive governments have taken very positive steps and introduced specific legislation to curb violence and harassment against women in houses, at workplace and in public transport, but its implementation mechanism has made it difficult to provide any relief. A large majority of respondents, 59 per cent, informed that insufficient space for women passengers in buses and wagons is a major problem for them.

A nineteen-year girl student told the survey team that due to repeated incidents of harassment at the bus, she and her friend have started commuting in rickshaw. ‘Though travelling in rickshaw is quite expensive for us, we feel quite secure in it,’ she said, adding, ‘In my opinion the government should introduce women-only buses in big cities to tackle the issue of harassment of women passengers. ”

Women-only public transportation can provide much needed relief for women facing frequent harassment, but it doesn’t challenge or end the harassment! The harassment continues elsewhere. For example, in a recent study of more than 200 youth in Gujranwala, Pakistan, 96 percent of the girls experienced street harassment. So, do we need women-only streets, too?! No, we need comprehensive and multi-layered action to address and end the pervasiveness of public harassment.

Bus in Islamabad — Via Islamabad Metblogs

Sadly, many girls and women in Islamabad, Pakistan, report feeling unsafe when waiting at bus stops and when riding the bus. Bus drivers were commonly cited culprits in a Daily Times article, with girls and women saying they used their mirrors to ogle women and blasted sexually vulgar music. Women and girls who must sit in the front seat also can be groped or otherwise touched indecently by the driver.

Because taxis are expensive but they do not want to be harassed either, some women and girls try to wait until the buses aren’t so crowded to ride them, but then that can make them late and otherwise inconvenience them.

The article says the government has considered women-only transportation, a cop-out and band-aid fix many other countries have opted to have in their big cities. The downside of course is they do nothing to check harassing men’s behavior and still leave women who wait at bus stops or who do not live along women-only bus routes vulnerable.

Harassment on Islamabad transportation is “rife”

Harassment on buses in Pakistan