ShareKUWAIT: Within any culture, societal expectations and norms take part in shaping the behaviors of its people. One deeply rooted expectation in many societies is the association between a girl’s reputation and being out of the home during the night. To understand the cultural and societal factors that contribute to this association, and explore how changing attitudes and evolving social dynamics are challenging such associations to pave the way for a more inclusive society, where a girl is not unjustly judged for being out at night, Kuwait Times interviewed Khadeja Karam, social relations consultant and cognitive behavioral therapist, and a local girl who preferred to remain anonymous.
The local working girl told Kuwait Times about society’s unjust judgment of girls who are not at home during nighttime. “It is disheartening to see how quickly people judge others, especially girls, based on their actions, without considering the circumstances. By judging a girl’s behavior simply because she happens to be outside after dark, shifts the responsibility for any harm that may happen to the girl on the girl herself,” she said.
Assuming negative intentions solely based on a girl’s whereabouts during the night denies her right to live without prejudice and unfairly question her motives. “Only a while ago, I was with my mother driving, and happened to stop at the red traffic light, when a car with several guys stopped near us and started harassing us.
I locked the car’s doors and rolled up the window, but they continued trying to talk to us in a mocking and disrespectful way. After their failed attempts, one of them stuck his head out of the car window and raised his voice, asking what were we doing out at this time of the night. As if he had the right to question us or harass us just because we were not sheltering at home after sunset,” she argued.
On her part, Karam explained that such judgments are deeply rooted in the customs, traditions and norms in Arab societies, as well as the prevailing social mindset. However, as time is progressing, women are becoming more liberated and have more freedom in choosing their paths, which may require them to stay out late or attend conferences or events.
Karam emphasized that although this unfair association still exists among societies, we see positive progress as time moves forward. This can be clearly recognized if we are to compare between the vulnerability of women’s reputation in the past due to unfair and severe judgement, and the shift in many people’s beliefs today.
