Thread by @nuqsh

At 17, I go to KU, fatherless & eldest among siblings, I travel in a bus for the 1st time & am touched, groped & pushed, so many times in the 15 minute journey that by the time I get to the University, I am too shaken to figure out which forms I need.
#MeraJismMeriMarzi

At 18, a student at KU, I get used to being felt up. I spend the next 4 years commuting in Karachi public transport & loose count pf the number of times I am touched without consent.
#MeraJismMeriMarzi

At 22, I take a rickshaw to work. 5 min in, the driver starts shouting about my duppatta. I panic. I apologise. I fumble with my duapatta. He keeps yelling. So I jump out as he starts to slow down on a red light and run with bleeding knees. I dont tell anyone.
#MeraJismMeriMarzi

More than a decade later, at 36, I walk to office, pushing both my babies in a pram. Cars slow down, drivers gesture, am too used to this to even notice. But today, the bollywood songs come from a group of schoolboys, couldn't be more than 11 - 12.
#MeraJismMeriMarzi

At 38, I dont feel safe walking alone to my office, that is five minutes away, in one of the best neighbourhoods in the federal capital. I talk about independence & empowerment but have to fight the urge to ask my husband to accompany me every-time i walk.
#MeraJismMeriMarzi

I could write ten other threads like this, recalling different incidents of violation. BUT, like most of the women who are sharing experiences, I still dont have the guts to talk about the more severe violations publicly.
#MeraJismMeriMarzi

So next time you get the urge to tell women how they should select words that are 'less controversial', ask yourself why is it a 'controversy' when women asks for the most basic of rights - Body autonomy & the right to safety.
#MeraJismMeriMarzi