Trigger Warning: Pedophilia

A lot of Pakistani guys have faced some sort of sexual harassment/molestation in childhood. Kids don’t know why a certain shopkeeper wants to shake hands with them and then move the hand towards their crotch. Or why a certain uncle on public transport wants to buy you chips. Or why some random person starts interviewing you.

As someone who’s been through this, I am still angry that I wasn’t informed about these behaviors by my parents or anyone really and didn’t know better.

So, when I see a kid being molested subtly, I always intervene. I’m not some badass/badmaash though, and I don’t want to create problems for myself and get beaten up either. I’m also not tryna be a wannabe Batman always on the lookout or a full-time professional victim. It’s just that, with molestation, you can often spot it when it’s happening in daily life, especially when you know what it looks like. Soon a day to day, everyone should intervene when they notice something off.

I just insert myself between a kid and some guy who’s being suspiciously touchy, switch seats with some high schooler who’s being uselessly interviewed by a creep on Metro buses etc.

How do you respond/interfere in these situations?

It’s not like we have any law and order or something, and most Pakistanis are against sex education anyway. Interfering is the only way to stop it in the moment.

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