I live in the Fifth Settlement,
Where people are supposed to be of a certain class,
Respectful,
And decent.
But, unfortunately, there’s no such thing there.
I’ll talk about two incidents.

1.
My university is relatively close to my house.
I mustered the courage to go with my bicycle.
I can’t even begin to describe the amount of looks,
Catcalls, and physical harassment I received.
I was even told that my parents have failed to raise me,
And all that.
At first, I’d just wear my headphones,
And ignore them.
But they eventually won.
I was fed up.
I decided to stop riding my bike to university.

2.
It was midday,
And I was walking down the street,
On the sidewalk.
A white-haired old man
Dressed in a suit,
And driving a fancy car,
Stopped me to ask where the nearest supermarket was.
I very naively started giving him directions.
Then this man, who’s as old as my father,
Started doing the dirtiest thing ever.
I can’t give any more details,
But I’m sure you understand what I mean.
I screamed,
And burst into tears.
He drove off, of course.

I couldn’t move.
My legs gave up on me.
I couldn’t get myself to go home.
My entire body was shaking.
My mind stopped functioning.
I couldn’t even take his car’s license plate number.

I never walk alone in the street now.
I don’t stop for anyone anymore.
I’m not happy about it,
But I no longer trust anyone.

I just want to point out something,
For the people who blame these things on what the woman is wearing.
I’m veiled,
And I wear loose-fitting clothes.
And on that day especially,
I had on a long skirt.
There was nothing about it that could’ve aroused his disgusting desire,
For a girl who’s probably younger than his daughter.