My experience of supporting a sexual assault survivor and reporting the crime.

Sexual assault in Pakistan is as prevalent as it is normalised. When a woman tells someone about it, the first response she usually encounters is one that tells her to stay silent because "what's the point anyway". Even the survivors' families that are supposed to protect the well-being of all members of its unit often respond by adding more restrictions on the woman's mobility instead of addressing the issue head-on. Their usual argument is that as the harm has been done, approaching the police will only exacerbate the shame.

But the fact is that when sexual assault occurs, the harm is directed upon the body and the mind of the woman assaulted. To assume that somehow the shame is shared by the family is a serious threat to justice and is just another way of cornering the survivor. To make matters worse, all this tiptoeing combined only goes to embolden sex offenders.

For these and many other reasons, reporting of sexual harassment and assault has always been low in Pakistan, particularly when compared to frank anecdotes from the women all around us. One of these reasons is the petrifying fear of showing up to a police station to report the crime.

It is worth repeating that when there is a sexual assault, it is important to report the crime to the police, which then must do its constitutional duty of protecting the survivor. Although, in order to encourage more people to report when it comes to cases of sexual harassment and assault, it is important that our institutions and our society collectively get together to end the culture of shame as well as that of fear. This is the only way that survivors will feel some level of comfort and confidence when it comes to reporting these crimes.

Last week, I had first-hand experience with reporting a sexual assault on behalf of a young teenager, who, clear as day, wanted retributive justice. Perhaps her being young had something to do with it, as admittedly, I had less faith in law enforcement. Because although there have been gender sensitivity trainings in our government departments and new laws have been brought into the system to introduce safeguards, I believe that while Pakistan has informed its institutions that gender equality is important, the people are still far from actually accepting the idea.

Nonetheless, on the insistence of the teenager, I helped report the crime. Here are some parts of the experience that restored some of my trust in our institutions.

First things first, the female...