How Girls Disappear From The Public Space
“I believe that when girls/women start disappearing or hiding in the city, children disappear as well. And that’s how a downfall to community life or city vibrancy begins.” Peacemakers Pakistani share a crucial story of the use of public space.
Photo: Ian Keefe/Unsplash
(These are brief findings from some personal experience and the stories girls told me in Pakistan)
In one of our articles previously, we have shared what public space means to us… public space can be interpreted as the public living room of a city, of which our houses are the bedrooms. A place where everyone, regardless of his or her background and ideology, can communicate with each other, share laughter and enter in to debate about anything. It is also a place in which people can sit and look at other people, while they can also be left unhindered if they want to be alone amongst strangers. Despite the public character, the place must ensure intimacy and give people the feeling of safety and comfort. In addition, a good public space must be able to emphasise a transition and interplay from the private domain to the public domain, whereby one for instance - while sitting at home - can look at a square from the window of his house and can let his thoughts wander for a moment.
It means that terraces, balconies and windows are a mode of transition from private to public domain and can play a vital role in forming the frame of urban space. But, do we see girls/women using it freely, like boys/men do? The answer is NO! Let me share a story here: Once there was a girl standing in the window of a home in the old settlement of Lahore. The window opened right into the street; it was her favourite spot to enjoy the hustle bustle of street life. She was just a little girl playing mindlessly with her bangles as she looked outside of her window. Right then, she noticed, a man on a cycle crossing the street again and again, and on paying attention she knew that he was looking at her, noticing her; he was a man old enough to be her father’s elder. She got scared and hid herself in disgust. Not only she closed the windows, she threw her bangles away as well.
This incident not only moved the girl from the urban frame but also hindered her movement and perception about the city spaces outside home and its people. Also, it encouraged the street being taken by boys as there was no reason left to scold boys for standing near a house where there is a possibility that a girl might appear in the window, because she won’t. This is not only a story happening in the old streets but in new societies as well. Because it’s the behaviours that are causing problem not the urban frame, it’s how people are using their spaces that matters not the way the spaces are connected to each other, because spaces and their connection differs from place to place, it’s human nature that stays the same. The only possibility for change is present if people change their way of perceiving things in their mind and how they react to it and also if people start giving value to other beings and their rights. That’s only how the change is possible.
Streets also come under the category of public spaces. When a girl steps out of her house, her eyes are wide open not out of wonder, anymore, but out of alertness about her surroundings due to the incidents of harassment, robbery, fast pace cars, insufficient space for movement etc. She feels like she has to be hyper alert to protect her. She feels unsafe when she is out alone, whatever the time might be.
Another story I would like to share here, about a girl, who had recently learned how to ride a bicycle. She went out one afternoon on her bicycle to explore her neighbourhood, after school hours, she was happy and then suddenly she realised she was being chased by boys on a bike. She somehow managed to escape them but they had seen her entering her home unfortunately. That night, her bicycle was stolen from her porch. And since then, the girl didn’t step out of her house alone, and also stopped enjoying the walk in her porch. The limitations incidents like these put on the child aren’t just about outside home but within home boundaries as well, these limitations take place within minds. Girls are more vulnerable to such incidents as they perceive and react in a sensitive manner, they either hide themselves or they go out violently, protesting or doing whatever they wish. Both of these reactions aren’t healthy for girls themselves or the children that might be under their care.
Women/ girls potentially use public transport more than men. But now they are adapting to personal cars or uber drivers which eventually add more cars to streets and fail the concept of sustainable public transport. The reason is clear…. Harassment and evil incidents happen in public transport and areas everyday and every moment, unfortunately. The reaction is an outcome of actions that are being overlooked by officials and city policy makers and management.
Let’s talk about parks, a place needed for leisure, picnics and for healthy connection with nature. Parks have trees for shade and comfort but, it also screens the inner park from outer roads or neighbourhood. Playgrounds are different, they are dominated with spaces for boys and their sports, which lead to girls feeling, left out, which is another story. But about parks, the threat is different, if there are not enough girls or women using the place at the same time, there is always this fear that something might go wrong at any moment. So, the interaction with nature that was meant to restore energy through restful activity is reversed as the energy spent on mental stress activity and alertness to keep oneself safe from the surroundings.
I conclude here that, all of these small factors lead to girls/women disappearing from the city fabric and also not owning spaces with freedom and joy. And I believe that when girls/women start disappearing or hiding in the city, children disappear as well. And that’s how a downfall to community life or cities vibrancy begins. Therefore, we must try to consider things to change, rather than subside and act passive to the happenings in the city. Because, the evil might come back grown stronger, or let’s just say it already did; look around what’s happening already. Don’t you agree with me?
Photo: Sharjeel Khalid/Unsplash