Zahra: I was an employee in a governmental office. It was a fully co-gender atmosphere. The officials managed to launch an assessment program for the staff. Many committees were established to work on various programs. We would have lunch together with our male colleagues.
Among the committee members, there was this person who would repeatedly tend to be around me. As time passed, I gradually realized that he was trying to win my attention. He would always find an excuse to come and talk to me. In addition to the chatting we had in office, he used to call me. As I was fully open-minded and blissfully unaware of his evil intentions, I would answer his calls.
One day while on the phone with him, he asked me out for lunch. I told him that we always have lunch together at the office and he said that he wanted me to be alone with him. I ignored his invitation immediately. He frequently kept disturbing me the next day. One day he asked me to be his girlfriend and even suggested that he would marry me. I rejected him yet again. He continued to call me and that was very annoying. I decided to change my phone number and blocked him on Facebook.
Maryam: I was very interested in cultural activism. Attending most of literary gatherings, I was eager to have an active participation in civil movements. A man, whom I was meeting repeatedly in get-togethers, finally recommended me to join a political forum. Having seen the active participation of females in the forum, I took part in the next programs conducted by them.
One day after hearing the news of being appointed as the deputy of the forum I was fully surprised. I couldn’t find any answer to the question why I got such a promotion with a very short space of time as the deputy for the forum.
I agreed to work in my new capacity. At first everything was normal but one day the chairman of the forum said “you have attracted me since the time you joined us”. “Why I have attracted you?” I asked him. “I love you and I have chosen you as my would-be life partner”, he replied softly. “I will dedicate my entire assets to you”, he said.
Having listened all these, I came to conclude that I was listening to a very wicked person. When he finished his words, I asked him how he would have felt if somebody said the same thing to his wife. Irritated by my question, he said that his spouse is a housewife and sarcastically uttered that she doesn’t work outside the house. At that moment I was indignant and I left his office in anger. He called me through the week but I didn’t answer his calls. I changed my phone number to get rid of this lewd man.
Shaima: I was working on a high-ranking government position without being formally appointed. As I was waiting for my formal approval, I wasn’t sure I would be working there for long. I applied for two other positions. The directors for one of those positions, told me that he would arrange the job for me. He gave me his phone number and asked me to give him a ring in the afternoon. I called him and he asked me to visit his private office in Shahr-e-Naw to further discuss my entry test. I told him that I had already passed two tests and completed my documents.
To sum it up, I refused to visit him in his private office. Nonetheless he continuously kept calling and requesting me to visit him in his private office. Apart from his repeated calls, he would leer me and would ask questions about my private life. I grew hatred towards him and I would tersely answer his questions. Disappointed to win over me, he told my colleagues that he didn’t want me to work there anymore calling me” not qualified” for the job.
