Beyond the white sands of the Maldives, women live in constant fear | Fathimath Uzma Naseem

Beyond the white sands of the Maldives, women live in constant fear

Maldivian women face persistent intimidation, abuse and sexual harassment the moment we step outside

When I walk it is with my head down, handbag clutched to my chest and my keys gripped in my palm as a weapon – always. Always I am on alert in case a man tries to overpower and attack me. The world knows the Maldives as turquoise-blue waters and a vibrant underwater life like no other destination. White sand to take away all your woes. A honeymoon paradise.

That is how the Maldives masquerades – as a five-star holiday destination for tourists – while local people, especially women, are treated as second-class citizens.

We women constantly worry about being a victim of assault in a country where age-old misogynistic practices hinder us from establishing a foothold in society.

Women are also burdened by the expectations of traditional duty imposed on them. Rearing children, cleaning the house and cooking three meals a day are often considered the roles of a woman. Patriarchy demands all these. There are still men who believe that women are unfit for professional jobs and should stay home.

While the Maldives has made great strides in trying to achieve gender equality, oppressive patterns persist in all corners of our society. Rampant sexism and misogyny are evident as soon as a woman steps out of her home. She will be whistled at, hear sexually degrading statements screamed at her and asked menacingly for her phone number – just some examples of the daily harassment we women face. And when a woman faces street harassment, she can be too intimidated to respond without putting herself in danger.

I used to respond assertively to catcallers, but now I have stopped because I worry about my safety. There is a middle-aged man who is always loitering at a cafe near my house. He would persistently harass me when I walked to the local shop. My first instinct was to call him out on the spot for his verbal harassment but this man makes me feel scared and vulnerable.

So instead of taking a two-minute brisk walk straight from my house to the store, I take a different route to avoid him.

Which raises the question – why must a task as simple as going to the grocery store make me fear for my safety? There are women everywhere in the Maldives who go through similar situations, pondering how they can escape or overcome the torrents of verbal assault out there.

Harassment or assault is not just physical. Nor is it about appearance. In the Maldives, if a woman addresses social issues on online platforms, men will respond with insults and threats.

Women who stray from “feminine” traits are considered as an affront to religion, abused as being without faith.

When women in the Maldives bravely share their stories of abuse, they find themselves blamed for their own abuse. But we talk out not to gain attention, but to try to make men understand that their actions have consequences for us, that the disdain from society’s judgmental eye must end. Stereotypical, sweeping statements that are detrimental to women must end.

We want to be rid of the jaundiced view of where women should stand in our society: we deserve to decide that for ourselves.

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