women Female driving in Pakistan being mocked

 Why are women Female driving in Pakistan being mocked, ridiculed and harassed by men?

Why are women driving in Pakistan being mocked, ridiculed and harassed by men?

Just grab the steering wheel and walk away. '
Either she on the phone or she's talking.
Half of their minds are on home and children.
They are emotional they can not control their emotions and they have an accident.
They look from side to side they look back & forth they just reverse.
Good luck to those who give these women driving licenses

If you are a woman, live in Pakistan and drive a car then surely you will hear these and many similar satirical phrases almost every day.

In the modern and advanced age of the 21st century, when the distinction between men and women is disappearing in most societies and even in conservative societies, women are achieving success in the struggle for independence. Equivalent to not participating.

Perhaps this is why the number of women drivers on Pakistan's roads is still much lower than that of male drivers. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average woman.

We have traveled the streets of Karachi with some female drivers to find out what kind of suffering these women go through every day.

women are also harassed through aggressive driving.

Above the glass Lock the door

We started our journey in the car of Samia Bardai, who has been driving in the city for the last 12 years. Samia works for an NGO and drives a daily distance of about 16 km from Clifton to Shah Faisal Colony.

Most of their journey takes place on the city's busiest highway, Faisal. He thinks that in a big city like Karachi where the public transport situation is bad, having a private ride is a great blessing.

"In Pakistan, it is okay for girls to drive during the day in big cities, but there are dangers of harassment at night," she says. It is difficult to drive in deserted places or on highways. Most parents and families are also worried about this.

Our next ride was with Anam Zahra from the marketing department. Anam has been driving for the last seven years. They have set up a system of their own to deal with harassment while driving.

"The first thing I do when I get on the road is to check that all the windows and doors of my car are locked. I know that whenever I stop at a signal the person next to me must be staring at me which makes me feel bad. I try to look only in the front while driving.

Blow the horn and blow the drums

But men's staring alone isn't the only problem female drivers face. When we traveled with Anusha Kohawar, a recent graduate of Habib University, she said that women are also harassed through aggressive driving.

We find it strange for male drivers to drive women. They may think we are a space creature sitting behind a steering wheel. Most male drivers try to overtake me unnecessarily. Maybe they think that if I were a girl I would be easily crushed and I would slow down in fear or give way unnecessarily. '

"Of course I'm in the middle lane at my speed limit," says Anusha. The same attitude is adopted on the signal. If I stand at the red light, it comes from behind me and goes ahead

Anusha Kohawar said that women are also harassed through aggressive driving.

A threat to patriarchy?

But what is the reason for this behavior? Nada Kirmani, an associate professor and analyst at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), associates it with patriarchal thinking.

"Until a few years ago, women were not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. There is no such legal restriction in Pakistan but men are probably not used to seeing women driving here. This is because in a patriarchal society, the free movement of women is considered a threat.

According to Nada Kirmani, in our country, keeping women under house arrest through the concept of 'chador and four walls' is also an attitude through which they are controlled. If a woman gets out of this control somehow, men start feeling insecure. In our society, the very small number of women in public places, such as markets and streets, is also a sign of patriarchy.

The ego of men?

In the patriarchal system the ego of men also plays an important role in shaping social attitudes. His personal experience with Anam Zahra often happens while driving.

If, God willing, you ever overtake a man, it just becomes a matter of his ego. They try to outwit us for no reason. I think driving is a social experience not a competition. Both men &women are traveling & trying to reach their destinations.

Nada Kirmani an associate professor and analyst at Lahore University of Management Sciences LUMS associates it with patriarchal thinking.

Anam Zahra recalls that when she was buying her 1st car her husband was helping her choose the right car but she heard strange advice from some other men.

Someone said buy a small car because you can not ontrol the rear of a big car while driving. I wondered what happened. This problem can happen to any man or woman, so why am I being advised?

Women bad drivers?

It is also a fact that the favorite hobby of the majority of men in Pakistan is to ridicule women by calling them bad drivers.

Samia Bardai says that the family trusts her driving but some male friends often tease that girls can't drive.

This kind of talk is discouraging for girls. A bad driver can be anyone be it a man or a woman. It never occurred to me that a friend of mine or a man of the house was sitting in the car with me & he felt the danger that this car would hit. I drive very carefully within the speed limit and I have not had any accident till date.

According to analyst Nada Kirmani jokes about women's bad driving' are common not only in Pakistan but all over the world.

It's also a way to lower women's self-esteem and maintain their inferiority in society." However there is no difference between men and women. A car is a kind of machine that anyone can use. But in patriarchal society, some men try to keep women away from technology.

Women careful drivers

Muhammad Ashfaq who has been running a driving school in the Korangi area of ​​Karachi for the past 25 years, has so far taught thousands of men and women to drive.

Traffic Police Chief DIG Ahmad Yar Chauhan, there are several factors behind  very low number of women's challans.

What does the police say?

According to Karachi Traffic Police Chief DIG Ahmad Yar Chauhan, there are several factors behind this very low number of women's challans.

All the women we traveled with on the streets of Karachi believed that while women are harassed by men, the traffic police often help female drivers. Happiness is expressed by seeing a woman in the driving seat, a way is made for a woman's car in a traffic jam and women are given a sense of security in the event of an accident.

According to statistics, last year in Karachi city alone, more than 3.85 million traffic rules were violated and fines were imposed. Of these, only 2,200 violations were committed by women.

According to Karachi Traffic Police Chief DIG Ahmad Yar Chauhan, there are several factors behind this very low number of women's challans.

"Even though there are a lot of women driving nowadays, their number is still very small," he says. In addition, the challan figures are much lower than the current number of female drivers, proving that women are generally cautious drivers. In my personal opinion too many women are very good drivers and obey traffic rules more than men.