“Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman.”— Khalid Hosseini

A woman was brutally harassed and assaulted, tossed in a sea of four hundred men, her clothes torn apart. It is ironic that at the same place where our independence was being commemorated, Minar-i-Pakistan, the state of a Pakistani woman’s liberty was showcased.

I cannot comprehend the psychological torture she is bound to experience, reading statements from men invalidating her trauma. These men expect to be immune to the law, immune to morality. Even if their faces are plastered all over social media, catching them red-handed, it is still a woman’s fault. “She instigated all of this by making vulgar TikTok videos in front of the Minar-i-Pakistan. Stupid actions have dangerous consequences,” a user tweeted.

All actions have dangerous consequences when you’re a woman. Making a TikTok video can provide a reason to hundreds of men to justify their actions: they were heroes, ‘protecting’ society from ‘vulgarity.’ Is it reasonable for a mob of men to tear apart a woman’s clothes, but gratuitous for a woman to make a TikTok video?

Making a TikTok video can provide a reason to hundreds of men to justify their actions: they were heroes, “protecting” society from “vulgarity”. 

It makes one wonder: what if it was a man? Would he too be attacked by a mob? I can practically visualise people turning their heads and walking away, thinking it is none of their business. When it comes to women’s actions, however, it is their duty as honourable Muslim men to ‘save’ the society? Making a TikTok video in a popular place is just another day in life for them. For a woman, it is her worst nightmare come true, the very situation her mother has warned her about all her life. A diseased form of patriarchal masculinity is rampant in Pakistan. It is a death wish to be a woman, especially out in public.

Masculine anxiety is at an all-time high. Men may feel like they aren’t ‘man’ enough: perhaps this is because they can’t exert their power over most women now. Women today are too brave. It is not a surprise then when these men welcome the Taliban in Afghanistan with open arms. They welcome the fragility of women’s rights, the prohibition of education, the house-arrest, and the restrictions on employment. “Long Live Taliban!” is just one of the infinite comments on YouTube videos, Instagram posts and Tweets.

Every Pakistani young girl is taught how to protect herself — she is taught to keep her distance from men; a sort of Covid has always existed for her. Even walking in an open area over six feet away from men, she feels men’s gawks piercing into every part of her skin. As she scurries away, the walls are closing in, suffocating her. She cannot breathe.

Ayesha went through most women’s biggest fear, and survived. And yet, she is blamed. Our society needs change, and we need it now. How many more women are there going to be?

The writer is a student based in Lahore