I dress modestly. I don’t wear flashy make up.
I am not the kind of a lady one would mistake for a call girl or prostitute.
Yet, when I step out of my home, male eyes follow my every move – I often get asked "How much?"
I can feel that no matter what I am wearing, many of these eyes see me as though I was wearing nothing.
As I move about on the streets, the stares turn to whistles, thrusting pelvic moves in a queue, groping hands in a crowded bus.
I am not a caged canary but a human who has to step outside the four walls of her home – for meeting my neighbours, for buying my daily needs, for fresh air.
Yet, it is never easy.
Have you guessed who I am? Have you seen me on the street?
You must have.
I am the mother who bore you. The sister you feel duty-bound to ‘protect’. The girl you fell in love with.
I am the daughter you are one day going to have.
Will you let me be treated this way forever?
Or will you do something about it, today?
- Action Hero Farrukh Naeem
