The Harsh Reality of Catcalling

By definition, catcalling- known as street harassment (a more appropriate term) is a term that sugar coats the action. Methods of street harassment include leering, flashing, whistling, lip licking, public masturbation, unwanted nonconsensual constantly pestering for the victim’s name, number and other details.

Being part of a patriarchal society, Pakistani women have to go through all sorts of sexual harassments. Although women across the globe have to undergo these nuisances, the situation in societies like Pakistan is particularly grim since most of these issues go unaddressed. In our society, street harassment is recognized as a serious threat to almost all women, and in some cases, men too.

In most cases, people often blame the women for dressing inappropriately which isn’t true because a lot of women who wear the veil and “burqa”.

“Back at the university, I used to travel by public transport and had to stand at the bus stop on a daily basis. Almost every day, I got to hear distasteful remarks from passersby. When I discussed it with my female friends and the women in my family, they suggested that I started wearing a burqa in order to save myself. So upon everyone’s suggestion, I started wearing a hijab but that didn’t stop the perpetrators even one bit. Even after fully covering myself up, men, mostly middle-aged ones, stopped their cars for me and gestured me to sit in their cars,” says Javeria, a postgraduate student from The Jinnah University for Women (JUW), Karachi.

Moreover, the problem lies in these apologists who blame the victims who have faced the harassment instead of doing something to get rid of these harassers. They often have to hear statements where their family members are blaming them for attracting undue attention. The phenomenon is prevalent in all socio-economic classes of the society and yet shushing the woman instead of condemning the perpetrator is widely practised.

“Just ignore it” is another important issue that needs to be addressed.
Ruth George was a college student at the University of Illinois. She was walking to her car as she was being catcalled by a man named Donald D. Thurman. She rightfully ignored him in which infuriated him to the point of strangling her to death.

People need to realize that this is a consequential issue so its imperative for one to tell the victims to ignore it, not fear it and to ‘just get over it’.

Catcalling is a derogatory menace as it objectifies women based on their looks and they are perceived as sexual figures instead of human beings. Moreover, society’s reaction to this issue is psychologically damaging to the oppressed as they feel responsible for what they’ve experienced and besides, the impact on mental health is damaging.

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