LAHORE- Whether it’s criticising the prevalent issue of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry or refusing to share a platform with an alleged harasser (Lux Style Awards), the model Eman Suleman has always voiced her strong stance against sexual harassment.
The rising star has quickly become known for being gutsy, open – minded and advocating for the #MeToo movement.
In an Instagram post, Eman is impelling her followers to name and shame the harassers as she reminisces her own harrowing experiences.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXIJNGFRDc/?utm_source=ig_embed
“‘Innocent until proven guilty,’ most of them say. I summon my childhood, my adolescence, my adulthood, and I ask them, I ask them how is it that we can prove? How can we prove to the people that these incidents actually happened? What evidence do we have of our abuser abusing us, our harasser harassing us? Nothing. We have nothing,” she wrote.
“We only have memories. And in this lawless world, our memories, our experiences count for nothing. We have no proof. Thus, we are not innocent. A a matter of fact, we are guilty, guilty of seeking attention, of falsely accusing,” added Eman.
“‘Innocent until proven guilty’ they say, and we call to mind these memories, over and over again, reliving these experiences, these feelings, thinking, no one will believe us because we have no proof,” the model went on. “There was no camera, there were no people, even if there were, the man who grabbed our butt and squeezed it with all his might for just a second, did it stealthily, leaving us powerless, frozen, and hurriedly walked away, vanishing in the crowd.”
Eman concluded by saying, “So when they say ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ we roll our eyes to the back of our head, we let them stay there for a while. Once they’re a bit horrified, we bring them back and then, we politely ask them to f*** off.”
In recent days, sexual harassment has become very much common in Pakistan. Whether it is showbiz, workplaces, or common areas of the country, sexual harassment has been occurring. But unfortunately, we can’t see the government taking any quick action against it. And later while it comes to investigation, the authorities blame the women for it. Why so?
We’re glad that Eman is highlighting the importance of this sick blame game; the reality is that women in our society have a lot more to lose from coming forward with stories of harassment so the argument that a lot of allegations are false because survivors are seeking attention is incredibly mistaken.
Why do we ceaselessly ask for “proof” of harassment, without keeping in mind that most incidents take place in person and out of sight, not while you’re being photographed by the anonymous?
Harassing women is an unbearable act; If a woman has the guts to open up about it or take action against it, quit considering her an alleged professional in the field of lies.
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