WWF Goodwill Ambassador harassed on road in Islamabad

Goodwill Ambassador for World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Samar Khan said that she had been harassed in Pakistan’s capital city, Islamabad, by a motorcyclist.

The athlete took to Twitter and shared the entire harassment episode. She said that she was cycling when an office going person groped her.

“He was carrying an office bag and slowed down his vehicle near my cycle,” she said adding that the man then groped her and patted her back multiple times. Samar Khan said that the man sped away after the incident as she tried to follow him on her cycle.

“Since I was on a cycle, I lost his sight,” she said adding that she would have set an example out of that man if he would have been caught.

She further expressed concern over the behaviour of the passers-by and asked as to why such incidents are taken casually and people just move on without taking serious notice of such acts.

“Three to four people saw it happening but did nothing to stop it,” the WWF goodwill ambassador said.

Pakistan is ranked by the Global Gender Gap Index 2018 as the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women and the second-worst in the world (ranked 148th) in terms of gender equality.

A Lahore-based non-governmental organization, White Ribbon Pakistan reported that 47,034 women faced sexual violence, over 15 000 cases of honour crimes were registered, and over 5,500 kidnappings of women took place between 2004 and 2016.

The US State Department also in its 2018 Trafficking in Persons report stated, “The Government of Pakistan does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.”