From catcalling and constant staring from male students and teachers alike, women have to endure this embarrassment at every step....
harassement
In a country where women face harassment in every sphere of life, be it their workplace or homes or even on the streets. Surprisingly, harassment in spaces like educational institutes and universities, are far from being any different. From catcalling and constant staring from male students and teachers alike, women have to endure this embarrassment at every step.
What makes this sad reality even more tragic is that the number of girls who actually manage to make it to the higher education level is alarmingly low. According to data provided by the Bureau of Statistics, only around 5.07 per cent of 102 million girls finish their education at university level.
Over the years, several cases have come under public scrutiny, although compared to the amount of harassment that takes place, the cases that are given due attention are truly few and far between. The stellar reputation of these universities and their ‘progressive’ views and policies matter little when it comes to putting restrictions on women and subjecting them to harassment. It isn’t just the teachers and students that are the cause of this harassment, members of the administration and staff also make use of their authority to pin their gaze on women. They abuse the authority of their position and their gender to enforce their will and continue doing so without question.
When it comes to abusing their power, even the younger female educators are not safe from the crude gaze of these people. One incident reported by a teacher at a reputable university recounted how she was stopped by a man claiming to be the head of security who went on to tell her that she was not dressed according to the dress code. This incident led to several female students coming out with their stories of how they were being morally policed by the staff and administration at the university. In response to the controversy, the university still insisted upon their right to do so, claiming that if the students continued to wear ‘un-Islamic’ clothing, then there would be severe reprimand.
The dress code given to boys in these universities is simple: Business attire on weekdays and Business Casual on Fridays and weekends. For women? No makeup, no distracting jewellery, no fitted trousers, no tops above the knees, no strong perfume, no heels, etc. What’s more; where shalwar kameez is enforced on female students, male students aren’t allowed to wear shalwar kameez except on casual days. These ‘rules’ make it glaringly apparent that every part of a woman’s body is grossly scrutinised under a microscope to see whether it appeals to men, and then they accordingly instruct women to hide themselves in every way possible. Basically, these women have to change everything about themselves because the men at these universities view them as inherently sexual creatures.
To double down on these ridiculous sentiments, universities also celebrate ridiculous events such as ‘Sister’s Day’ where they distribute scarves to all the female students, once again enforcing their own idea of modesty on women, whether the people in question want it or not.
This discrimination extends to other aspects of university life as well, like one university limiting the female students to only one all-female canteen at the campus while the men are open to visit three separate canteens where the girls are not allowed. The ridiculously high fines imposed on women if they break these rules, which are often lower than the fine for being caught smoking, make it no less than a cruel punishment for the innocent crime of self-expression.
This raises the question about why it is only women who are forced to dress according to certain standards, and why do other people get to decide what is modest or not and not the women themselves? Why is it that men are so obsessed with what women wear?
“Once, while I was seated outside the Arts Faculty, I had an encounter with an elderly lady who berated me for not wearing a dupatta,” recalls Sawera Dedar, a 3rd-year student at a government university. “She asserted that I was responsible for my own izzat (honour) and if the guards harassed me, it would be my fault, not theirs. This experience truly exemplified what harassment entails.” Sawera, in her three years at this university, has faced harassment from staff, administration, students and teachers alike. For her, the university is a dangerous terrain which needs to be navigated carefully, and never alone.
“There is no ultimate authority at our university,” adds Nisma Ayub, a Master’s student. “If you want to fight back against the harassers, who will back you? Ultimately, I can never rely on the university to help me in such situations, I only have myself. If you do attempt to bring it to their attention, they will either brush it off or resort to victim blaming.” Recounting one particular incident, Nisma explains, “Once, when I was sitting in the Social Sciences faculty with my friend, she noticed that a man was taking pictures of us. When I confronted him and took his phone, I found several photos of us. Even though I had proof, I knew I couldn’t report it to anyone because no action would be taken.”
The female students at government universities face the worst cases of harassment due to the sheer size of these institutes, and the archaic hierarchical systems that mirror the current condition of the Pakistani government. Female students at these institutes have grown used to perpetually being stared at by men, security guards, rickshaw drivers, teachers, and more. However, the staring is just the start, with catcalling, jokes, harassment and moral policing going on to become a weekly occurrence as well.
One of the major reasons that most cases of harassment never see the light of day is that private universities often make these students sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreement) or threaten to suspend their students if they dare to speak up against them. These universities help nurture the harassers and the unsafe environment to protect their own reputation and to hold on to the power that keeps female students at a constant risk of losing their chance at an education.
Such cases and stories are just a small percentage of the many cases that take place, yet these alone paint a terrifying picture. It shows how the simple act of acquiring an education is a losing battle for many women in this country. The harassment that begins in schools only worsens as they move onto college and then universities, and perhaps only worsens once they move onto the workforce. In true fashion of the patriarchy, women are blamed for the way men choose to repeatedly sexualise them.
One can only hope that things might change for the better in future, but based on the lack of action taken by these institutes and the government, it seems universities will continue on serving as a hotbed of harassment.
