Defense against rape

Fatima Tuzahra Ahmad

Defense against rape

Date

2020

Authors

Fatima Tuzahra Ahmad

Publisher

UMT.Lahore

Abstract

“Shatters the silence, stop the violence.” This work is an attempt to look forward towards women defense due to increase in rate of women rape and violation in Pakistan. In Pakistan, 93% of women face sexual violence. In Pakistan a woman is raped in every two hours as per “Human Rights Commission of Pakistan”. There are also many harassment cases recorded in past few years of Pakistan. It is an ongoing issue that needs to pay heed so that there would be some control on this issue. International attention towards rape in Pakistan came after the case of Mukhtaran Mai which was recorded in July 2002. There is lack of awareness and there are many women going through these circumstances but are afraid of coming to the front. My exploration is to contribute for woman of Pakistan who has to face violation, harassment, molestation and rape. My aim is to provide protection by making defensive garments with the essence of fashion aspect which can also portray a strong woman by which she is able to fight in these situations. I am planning to design a collection which will help to secure women and let her fight against any harm provided by the opposite gender. Something that gives a scary yet fashionable look or seems rebellious and unusual. I will use non tear able fabrics such as Kevlar and Dyneema along with strong fasteners which will provide extra strength to the garment. I will make a space for pepper spray to be used as a weapon. Some major things which my garment will have are pointed cutline, sharp silhouettes, crispy and stiff look and will use sharp and edgy material to give reluctant look. For this, I have taken wonder women as an inspirational character which has the attributes that promotes women strength. Wonder women is a warrior born. She has some different attributes, like she is an opinionated, highly competitive, fearless, and focused and a caring character. She is polite in nature but if someone do wrong or teases her she will not tolerate. It is a character which can inspire any woman. So this is the character that can truly explain what kind of end product I wanted to make and actually what I wanted to showcase through my work. There is a lot of literature work present about rape and sexual violence of woman in Pakistan. Many critics have talked about different cases recorded and are questioning that why this matter isn’t taken under view by the authority. According to these reviews there are hundreds and thousands of women that go through this but are afraid to come forward for justice. This literature provides me enough information to make up my mind and pick this topic as my theme. There is no work done by any designer on this matter specifically for defense. But we can see some work of artists and fashion designers that are inspired by women empowerment. But there are no measures taken for women that travels or work at some place and faces these type of difficulties and she doesn’t even have any safety that can help and protect her from these things. Mainly I did not take any inspiration from an artist or designer rather I took my reference direct from the incidence we get to know on our daily basis through electronic and social media platforms. After knowing this matter I go through it thoroughly. There are many cases in which a working woman is subjected and there is no one out there to help them. This provoke me to work or do something for the woman of Pakistan. So I decided to use this opportunity to design and create garments which can help them in such matters.