Women in Pakistan; a terrifying tragedy or a misled rumor? The patriarchal grasp on the subcontinental society lies a lot beyond the idea of white feminism which believes in physical exposition. It is, rather about the silent emotional pain caused by merely four words, being ‘you don’t know anything’. It is about the extreme dominance faced at every level may it be professional or personal. It is about the thought that no matter how literate, how talented a woman is, she will always be influenced by a man merely because he is a man. The subcontinental patriarchal grasp revolves around the absolutely sick phenomena of how a man with a thousand sins on his record will still be a greater saint than a woman with a single sin. It is about the silent awareness of not being worthy enough that makes a woman face all levels of abuse, may it be physical, emotional or sexual and it is this awareness which slowly and gradually has brought us to a point of extreme downfall where our society is in denial of the sacrifices of a woman in building a prosperous household as compared to a man.
To me, women in Pakistan are both a terrifying tragedy and a misled rumor because where on one end in the rural areas of the country, we deny them the basic rights to be able to live as per their own will, on the other end is some of the urban localities, we measure feminism as a way to justify the socially unacceptable activities of both genders in our setup.
Sexual harassment for women is a real problem for the women of Pakistan. Almost every one of us knows a female friends who has been harassed in one way or another; some of us are unfortunate to know a few who have been physically and sexually assaulted.
Pakistan law enforcement agencies are usually unable or incapable of handling these cases due to weak legislation, religious influence on the standards of evidence required, an outdated court system and a general patriarchal mindset. Whereas there needs to be social, legislative and judicial changes; honestly the time span for that is too drawn out for the protection women currently need.
Thus it makes sense for the strong and independent women of this country to take steps to protect themselves in case all else fails.
An amazing initiative to tackle this problem is being taken by a bunch of innovative and socially aware Islamabadi teenagers at Tahafuz; a social initiative to bring self-defense classes for women specifically meant to teach women how to protect themselves from sexual and physical assault.
Designing a course that teaches women to protect themselves in extreme stress and high risk situations and providing them a last resort line of defense, these people are providing the women of Pakistan with the tools they need to feel safe and secure while doing their daily chores around the city, going to their job or receiving their education.
Hiring a specialized women’s trainer, who is also an instructor at Pakistan Army and building a safe and secure environment for women by having the workshop totally populated by females, they are launching their first training workshop this weekend on November 21st, Saturday. The workshop will be for one month and classes will be an hour and thirty minutes long on Saturdays and Sundays and is at minimum cost (Rs.2000 only!)
To consider applying for the workshop, head to the event link for more details here: https://www.facebook.com/tahafuz1/?fref=ts.
To apply for the workshop, register yourself online ASAP: http://goo.gl/forms/ZOvYPbeYGs
