Roadside, Roaming Romeos

 

Everybody talks about work place harassment, but what about harassment, on the roads? 

Oh, it must have been your heels! You must have had inappropriate clothes to entice the other gender. Men are like that, it's the women who need to be careful. Don't give them a chance to harass you.

Okay!! Here is what I have to say, to all this. 

One day, I had some shopping to do, So I took another route from my office. To shop on my way back home, and enjoy the weather. I noticed one thing, men were scanning me head to toe, no matter what I'm wearing, and if I'm wearing a denim under my Abaya, well they'd even comment "wh*re". Yes, I heard it. According to them, those who wear denims, even under well covered clothes are not good women. 

So, I shopped, I can't remember what now. And while I was minding my own business, a man kept following me on Motorbike. He was wearing western clothes. An expensive helmet and Mask under it, to conceal his identity. Even though on that road there are no CCTV cameras. One thing is for sure, that they are habitual criminals. 

So he did his thing, and I was SHOCKED!!, because I wasn't expecting this. And when I said a lot in his praise for his uncouth act. He turned his back and pointed at me, in a way saying, what's wrong baby girl ? Isn't that what you want?

I shared this with my Boss, and he asked me, if I know this person. And I said I didn't know him. Why would someone who knows me, do such a thing. So we went on a trip, in an attempt to locate this guy, we couldn't find him. But he assured me, if he ever found him, he'd break his nose for sure. I was happy to hear that, but the damage had been done. Things like this happen when we least expect it. This whole incident had made me question my own choices? For example, was it really my fault? My heels? Were they really enticing? My clothes, are they not appropriate? Is my walking style too bad? Why am I even attracting too much attention, all the bad kind of incidents are happening to me. Do I look like a Wh*re, or an easy target?

All these kind of things, have greatly impacted my over all confidence. Rather it shattered my confidence, I stopped going back from those routes again, I developed various kinds of phobias. People envied what I had, and to me, all I had was really heavy traumas. 

Since then, I stopped wearing bright colors, and I didn't want to be seen in public, I said good bye to all my favorite wardrobe pieces. And slowly my personality became dull. It wasn't just an incident, it shaped a major part of my life. But do I regret it? The answer is NO. I'm glad what I've seen. I do believe that life only gets difficult. So one should always be prepared. 

Peace

Damsel in Distress.