Bahraini, expat women complain of cruel, immoral abuse on streets

TDT | Manama                                                  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com    

Reported by Julia Cassano

In any society, catcalling is a common occurrence. Despite the “normalcy” of it, many young girls and women have reached out to The Daily Tribune describing their personal experiences of harassment on a daily basis.

Women, may they be Bahrainis or expatriates, endure catcalling or street harassment on a daily basis, and sadly, many perpetrators stay undetected by authorities as the acts are not reported for various reasons.

What is catcalling? Catcalling most often occurs when the perpetrator desires to call the woman’s attention to them- to degrade her. Most times, the perpetrator is making degrading remarks and calling attention to her body as if it is an object. Unfortunately, whether women are walking down a street, riding their bike, or even driving, many women experience catcalling or street harassment, which is a dangerous phenomenon to all, but especially women.

The women and young girls who reached out to The Daily Tribune asked to keep their identities anonymous, but still wanted to share their experience of street harassment in Bahrain. Speaking to The Daily Tribune, an eighteen-year-old Bahraini girl said: “Catcalling is very common unfortunately.

Many girls like myself have taken extra precautions like rolling up the windows to prevent such acts from happening; however, they still occur.” She said that as it happens so often, she has started to take pictures of the perpetrators number plate to “alarm” them.

“No real harm will be done to the boys committing such acts. But, if they see you taking a picture of their car or number plate, most likely, it scares them off and may prevent them from catcalling in the future,” she said.

Most victims of these cruel and immoral acts often suffer silently, as they fear possible retaliation against those committing the acts. Another woman told The Daily Tribune that a couple days ago, she was driving with her son in a car, and noticed that she was being followed back to her house.

“I did not notice the car was following me until I was almost home. They began whistling at me, then tailgated and followed me for a couple of kilometers. Fortunately, I did not drive to my house as I did not want the men in the car to know where I lived, and after a couple of turns, he eventually stopped following me,” she said.

She said that it is normal for men to follow women in their cars, catcall, and harass them and that she herself experiences these acts on a day-to-day basis. Importantly, she noted that it is essential to call the appropriate authorities when these types of acts happen.

“If women are not reporting these issues, nothing will be done. But, if women take action and report the acts, authorities will be more inclined to be on the lookout and take steps to stop this from happening,” the woman said.

If the police are being notified on a daily basis about these horrible acts, it puts pressure on them to help those at risk and create a safe community for women to live peacefully. These types of acts infringe women’s rights to live in a safe society and community.

Women should not face the fear of catcalling or street harassment when driving, walking, or running daily errands. These acts objectify women in their communities where they should feel peaceful and safe, not objectified and degraded.