Female passengers face constant harassment

Commuting between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad is a nightmare for the working women, housewives and female students, as they are not only roughed up by the ill-tempered and foul-mouthed van and bus conductors, but also subjected to sexual harassment at bus stops. Pakistan Today talked to a number of working women and girl students Wednesday and enquired them about their problems. Despite the passage of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill 2010, the reply of majority was that they did not feel safe while standing at bus stops or travelling in a bus or van.
They said while sitting in the front seat, majority of drivers, especially of vans, constantly ogle at them through the mirrors.
They said the mirrors were not meant to assist the driver in keeping an eye on the traffic moving behind and on the sides of the vehicle but to stare at the women ‘from different angels’. Another irritant, they said, was that they played high-pitched vulgar songs, causing them embarrassment.
Anum Hussain, a student of Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), said harassment at the hands of van drivers plying the Aabpara-QAU route was a routine. “While driving, most of the time they stare at us through the mirrors instead of looking ahead.” “They not only watch us, but also pass a smile and sometimes dig their elbows into our bodies, especially when two women are seated on the front seat.”
“The space in the front seats is rather congested and when one has to squash up to make room for the other passenger , naturally the girl or woman sitting on the side of the driver gets closer to him, which gives him an opportunity to indulge in indecent behaviour,” Anum said.
Although, all the governments have made tall claims to launch a separate public transport system for women while anti-sexual harassment bill has been passed, nothing concrete is visible on the ground.
Apart from commuting between the home and office or the school or college, standing at the bus stops is no less affliction, as some people park their cars close to the bus station and stare at them through the side mirrors in the hope that someone would get into the car.
During rush hour, men crowd a bus or van as soon as it stops and elbow their way in, leaving the majority of women standing helpless.
Since hiring a cab is bit expensive these days, they keep waiting until the rush thins down. As a result, they get late for their destinations where they have to justify their late arrival. Refusing to be identified, a burqa-clad working woman said, “Sometimes, when I reach the office late due to the rush at my bus stop every morning, I see a red circle round my name in the attendance register. After reaching my desk, sometimes I have to see the boss and answer his questions.”
Sidra Shah, a government employee, said, “In the absence of office transport, what distresses me the most is travelling between my I-10 Markaz home and the Pak Secretariat in route no 24 van. “It’s because of limited availability of public transport, especially in the morning and evening. What hurts the most is the foul language of the bus drivers and conductors,” she said.
Women, especially college students, said whenever they reached the nearby bus stop for going back home, a large number of boys flocked in and keep staring at them, and passed vulgar comments. “This is not the end. As soon as the bus starts running, the boys on motorbike follow it and throw a chit of paper containing their cell phone numbers.
This is not what we are facing while travelling in public transport but also when we are going back to our homes in college bus. This is disgusting,” said a student of Model College F-7/2 dejectedly. Talking on the issue, Chief Commissioner’s spokesman Khalid Mahmood said the district administration was taking a strict action against all those public transport drivers and conductors who mistreated women or stopped them from boarding their vehicles.
Khalid said the transporters found guilty of overcharging the passengers would also be booked. In a reply to a question, he said they had no plan to introduce a separate public transport service for women.
Pleading anonymity, an official of Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) said they had introduced 1915 helpline to address the complaints of harassment at the hands of public transport drivers and conductors. He said complaint boxes had also been set up at bus stations to address the complaints of women passengers.
He said the ITP had already warned the transporters against mistreating women passengers and ticketed many of them. “In the name of honour, majority of women didn’t bother to contact us for registering a complaint, otherwise whoever comes to our office or contact us complaining against transport drivers and conductors, we take immediate action,” the official said.