Pak women traffic cops face harassment

Pakistan's first batch of women traffic wardens are becoming victims of harassment.

Pakistan’s first batch of women traffic wardens in this eastern Pakistani city are becoming victims of harassment with men trying all sorts of tricks to gain their attention.

The eight wardens who zoom past Lahore’s busy arteries on heavy duty 250cc motorcycles to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and women’s safety are themselves becoming victims of harassment.

They are troubled by men who deliberately break traffic rules to get their attention even if it is just to get challans. Some have even gone to the extent of feigning breakdowns of their vehicles.

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“Last week I broke my bike’s lights so that the warden would come up to me and talk. She did and the new lights just cost me Rs 150,” a 20-something biker bragged on a local TV channel.

For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the traffic police in Lahore inducted eight women wardens in April to patrol the cultural capital on bikes and enforce traffic laws.

Smartly dressed in grey-blue uniforms, these women, who are in their early 20s, have proved to be real head turners.

“Women are very happy when they see us. Sometimes when they see us they salute us and their children are also thrilled,” Sadia Anwar, one of the wardens, said shortly after she took to the roads on her bike.

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The women wardens were given special training along with their male colleagues. They are expected to extend emergency services to commuters and are perceived to be more honest and patient in their dealings with traffic violators.