Eve Teasing in Pakistan

Report Title The Condition of Eve Teasing in the Liberty Market and the DHA Commercial Areas of Lahore Course Title BBA English Submitted To Submitted By Date of submission November 27, 2010 Executive summary Introduction Eve teasing is basically the act of harassing a woman publicly, passing vulgar remarks and essentially making her feel uncomfortable to stroll freely in a public place. Background Eve teasing dates far back to the time when the world started being liberal and ever since women got their rights back in the early 90’s and generally became open in terms of them working and being an active member of the society.Purpose To highlight the alarming condition of eve teasing in the main commercial areas of Lahore, namely the gulberg Liberty market and the H and Y block markets of DHA. To shed light on the main issues pertaining from the act of eve teasing. Method Through a questionnaire circulated amongst the people and interviewing the shop owners and authorities of the aforementioned areas. Conclusion We concluded that women of the age group (18-25 years), were majorly teased on public transports, and usually by men in groups rather than a single male.

And also that there are no real measures taken as yet to end this menace or to deal with the defaulters. Recommendations To spread awareness that eve teasing is an actual issue in our society. This would really help in targeting the issue at the root so that the upcoming generations can be groomed accordingly.

1. Introduction

1. 1 Background

Since this is an Islamic country, “sexual Harassment” is not a topic that can be discussed openly. Hence the term “eve-teasing” came into being. It is used widely in major Asian countries too of which Pakistan is seriously affected by this problem.Eve-teasing is basically the act of harassing women in public which is usually done by groups of young men in public places, primary hangout spots, bus stops, in actual busses/trains, in workplaces and basically anywhere a girl has the liberty to walk around freely. This act started ever since women became liberal and started being an active member of the society by working jobs, getting an education etc. Many men feel threatened by this, and feel that eve-teasing is the easiest way to put a woman in her place. Some do it because of this very reason, some do it to satisfy their inner urges and some just plainly do it as a recreational activity. Movies and TV often present eve teasing or stalking as mode of convincing the beautiful tender females to accept love proposals, and we don’t really have a scarcity of hopeless romantics. Women are often criticized for ‘inviting’ molesters by their ‘seductive’ way of dressing and make-up.

This might be right in some cases and wrong in many. It’s true that they dress openly at times but this is the 21st century and all of us should be open minded but sadly that is not at all the case. The teasing can be verbal teasing i. e passing indecent remarks about the target victims or non verbal teasing which includes winks, hand gestures and staring/leering at the victims. It can also be a form of physical teasing such as cornering the victim, blocking their path, ping or groping the victim. It is common sight in a public recreational area where u see a single girl or a group of girls waiting for their cars or having a casual discussion, and suddenly a car stops beside them offering them a ride, teasing them and passing crude remarks.The girls are left helpless and humiliated and in no position to do anything about it.

1. 2 Purpose

• To study the existence of eve teasing in major commercial areas of our society
• To find out various kinds of eve teasing acts that the victims have to go through
• To determine the attitude of the youth (18-25 years) towards eve teasing
• To study the impact of eve teasing on the victims
• To find out the precautions and actions taken by the victims Our areas of study are the Liberty market in gulberg and the main commercial markets of H, Y and W blocks of DHA (defence housing authority).

Questionnaires were distributed amongst students of FAST University who were residents of the respective areas so as to get a good insight on the matter. The people questioned were mainly residents of the areas mentioned. Shop owners in the respective areas were interviewed about the condition of eve-teasing in their area. The authorities were questioned about the measures they have taken to prevent eve teasing from becoming a norm.

2. Findings

Through our study, we examined the different modes of eve teasing. We found a lot of relevant information while conducting the survey. It was conducted in FAST-NU through a structured survey of 20 questions and was taken from 25 male and 25 female respondents who were residents or frequent visitors of the respective areas; the age group was 18-25 years.

2. 1 Have you ever faced eve teasing?

The following question was asked by us and we found that out of those 25 girls, 21 replied ‘Yes’ to our question and only 4 said ‘No’. This made it apparent that almost every girl now a day is becoming a victim of eve teasing.

2. 2 Places where eve teasing is higher:

Our research shows that the girls are mainly teased almost at every public place but the eve teasing rate is the highest i. e. 70% at the market areas as compared to road sides, parks, outside institutions and public transports.

2. 3 Kinds of eve teasing:

Women faced different kinds of eve teasing mostly through a bunch of guys who find it fun to harass women. Thus 68% of women are affected through the most common verbal eve teasing which includes whistling, passing vulgar comments etc. Others go through physical, visual and often both or at extreme cases, all kinds of teasing.

2. 4 Do victims call for help?

This act of harassment affects the self esteem of girls. They, the victim of eve teasing mostly do not call for help, and if they do, they don’t get it because 66% people never helped any one as they think it’s not their business. Even the female respondents who had gone through eve teasing did not help others facing the same problem. Furthermore, only 24% female respondents took some action against it.

2. 5 Cause of side effects of eve teasing disorder:

50% of the respondents called the movie scenes as the biggest cause of the side effects of eve teasing. 6% people were also seen in favor of internet influence playing a big role in producing eve teasers and 38% blamed parents’ grooming for such a thing.

2. 6 Should Govt. Pass laws against eve teasing?

Almost 34% people demanded for laws against eve teasing while only a small percentage answered no. This suggests that the Government should strictly pass orders against eve teasing.

Conclusion

We concluded the following from the survey conducted which includes the personal interviews and the questionnaire.

• Eve-teasing is indeed a menace for visitors of the respective areas. The victims were usually teased by college boys in groups rather than a single male.
• Eve-teasing on public transports especially buses has made it the least preferred means of transport by women.
• Women do feel helpless in the heat of the situation but are not afraid to later on file a complaint
• Women prefer to roam the high risk areas in groups and say that they feel secure in doing so
• The more posh areas such as the DHA markets have controlled this problem by having special forces designated to patrol the areas in search of such situations

Recommendations

The fact that eve teasing is a definite form of sexual harassment should be made public. A women’s force should be deployed at the commercial areas and public transport stands so men do not dare attempt such an act, and even if they do someone is there to provide hands on assistance to the victims. Laws should be made to deal with the offenders.

An effective law for this problem will be difficult to impose until and unless the mentality of our men-folk is changed about women. The media’s help should be sought to spread awareness about the issue and maybe just maybe change the mentality.Appendix Survey Questionnaire Please fill the following information about yourself: Age: Gender: M/F Eve teasing is a euphemism used in Pakistan for molestation of women by men. Consider a problem related to law breaking in youth that ranges from sexually suggestive remarks groping, making lewd gestures, staring, whistling, touching, verbal blasting, stalking ,phone calls or even physical attacks.

1. How do you usually commute? (Tick all applicable)

• a) Bus stoppage
• b) Auto Rickshaw
• c) By mobile
• d) Car
• e) Others(please specify)______________

2. Have you ever been teased by men at public places? (if NO, please move to question no. 9)

• a) Yes
• b) No

3. What kind of eve teasing have you faced? (Tick all applicable)

• a) Verbal (comments, whistling, etc. )
• b) Physical (touching, feeling up, etc. )
• c) Visual (staring, gesticulating, etc. )
• d) Others (please specify) ___________________

4. In your experience, eve teasing is done by

• a) Individual
• b) Group
• c) Both

5. How does eve teasing make you feel? (Tick all applicable)

• a) Feel Humiliated
• b) Feel scared
• c) Feel angry
• d) Feel degraded
• e) It does not affect me at all
• f) I enjoy it
• g) Others(please specify) ______________________

6. Have you ever reacted /take action when someone has teased you?

• a) Yes
• b) No

7. If yes, how? (Tick all applicable)

• a) Retaliated verbally
• b) Retaliated physically. If yes, what did you do? ______________________
• c) Walked away and ignored
• d) Asked others for help
• e) Called the police
• f) Others (please specify) ______________________

8. What type of help did you get from others when you were being teased? (Tick all applicable)

• a) Called the police
• b) Got support from people around
• c) No Help
• d) Others (please specify)

9. Have you ever helped anyone being teased?

• a) Yes, specify how?
• b) No, why not?

10. Is eve teasing a sort of flirting?

• a) Yes
• b) No
• c) Maybe

11. Do you think the way girl dress-up is a reason behind eve teasing?

• a) Yes
• b) No
• c) May be

12. Do you think conservatively dressed women haven’t gone through eve teasing?

• a) Yes
• b) No
• c) May be

13. Should girls be banned from all public places where they may encounter eve teasers?

• a) Yes
• b) No
• c) May be

14. Which one is the cause of the side effects of compulsive eve teasing disorder? (Tick all applicable)

• a) Movie scenes
• b) Bad parenting
• c) Internet influence
• d) Others (please specify)

15. Is eve teasing an innate part of our social culture?

• a) Yes
• b) No
• c) May be

16. Where is the eve teasing higher? (Tick all applicable)

• a) Outside institutional area
• b) Parks
• c) Road sides
• d) Markets
• e) Public transport

17. Should the government pass laws against eve teasing?

• a) Yes
• b) No
• c) May be

18. Do you think that maximum no. of eve teaser are students?

• a) Yes
• b) No
• c) May be

19. Many women often take precautionary measures to ensure their safety. Please tick the precautions you take/ your family asks you to take for your safety as a woman. (Tick all applicable)

• a) Avoid certain public places. Specify which kind of places _____________________
• b) Avoid going out alone
• c) Avoid wearing certain clothes, which may seem provocative
• d) Carry items such as pepper spray/ safety pins/ pen knife etc.
• e) I do not take any precautions as I feel safe in the city
• f) None of the above
• g) Others (please specify) _______________________

20. Would you like to give a suggestion about how to STOP eve teasing? Data acquired.