Work. Eat. Sleep. These are the most essential things in the life of human beings. All of these activities are mostly dependent on the movement and transportation of an individual on a daily basis. 51.49% of the population in Pakistan has no problem with commuting. Why does the other half of the population face inconvenience while commuting? The answer is simple: because they are women.
There are four dominant modes of transportation among women. In Pakistan, the most common way is relying on male members of their family whenever they wish to commute. Next is using public transportation or InDrive. And lastly, independent transportation. The issue mostly comes under three of these domains, and that is harassment. A woman will complain about being harassed on public transportation, and she will be suggested to opt for InDrive and other hailing services. But the harassment doesn’t stop there, so now what? Opt for rickshaws and cars since they’re safer. Okay, done. Did the issue resolve? No. Always look for ‘premium’ drivers; they’re guaranteed. But what if this doesn’t stop either? Then just opt to drive on your own; surely no one can harm you when you’re in a car. But that doesn’t stop the creepy stares or the verbal harassment either.
That covers working and eating; now for sleep: accommodation. Live in a better society; live in female hostels, which provide better security. They charge you extra for said security. But there’s no end to this. You must keep pepper spray or a taser with you at all times and definitely learn self-defence. Why is the safety of nearly half of our population worth more? And the cherry on top of this whole situation is that women are paid less. So let’s get this straight: pay women less but extract more from their pockets. Why is security monetised for nearly half of our population?
Let’s suppose a woman does all of the above, yet at the end she has to bear the taunts of the society as well. ‘Kaam karne ki zaroorat kya hai? Aurat ki kamai mein tou waise hi barkat nahi hoti?’ The real issue isn’t that women are expected to pay more for safety; the real issue is why they have less safety. Just by introducing more financial schemes to women under the guise of their guaranteed safety, we need to acknowledge the lack of humanity in men that first dehumanise women by harassing them and then charge extra for a beautiful lie.
They have turned this into a capitalist venture, a million-dollar industry. Alarms, security cameras, monthly-based subscription apps for safety monitoring and whatnot. This is actively taking the blame away from men and putting it on the women. When attacked, people say, ‘Well, why wasn’t she careful?’ instead of asking, ‘Why did he attack her?’. Governments should have better nighttime lighting and improve their societies to make them walkable and community-driven to ensure less crime, not just upon women, but in general, rather than milking away half of the population’s income to millionaires.