Pakistan: How one woman cyclist is challenging prejudice

DW (English)

Wania Riaz's daily bicycle commute to university is inspiring other women to take up cycling, as a way to win independence in a heavily male-dominated area near Afghanistan.

Transcript

00:00In a dominant society, when I take out my cycle, I get a lot of excitement, but I also

00:20have to face challenges.

00:21As you can see, I am wearing an abaya, a hijab, so often going to the abaya, or if

00:26something goes wrong in the cycle, then it becomes challenging for me.

00:34Everyone does trailing, even females.

00:36When they see me like this, sometimes they give thumbs up, sometimes like this, like

00:40what is this?

00:41So I have to face such things.

00:43The rest of the boys, often when I ride my cycle, they turn the car this way so that

00:48they can distract me.

00:50And I also have to face fun and noise.

00:56I am very happy to see her, the way she goes to the department, the way she is empowered,

01:20the way she is independent.

01:22And we would like to see in the future, the way Vanya goes on her cycle, we would like

01:27to see the rest of the girls, so that they can also go.

01:30Often, sometimes we feel unsafe with rickshaw drivers or taxi drivers.

01:42I would appreciate that she comes on the cycle every day, so that her mental health, physical

01:46health will also be healthy.

01:48And instead of going for a taxi, going for a rickshaw, this is our conservative society,

01:54because of which they will also get compensated for their bad behavior.

02:04Cycle has a lot of impact on my life.

02:07I will describe it in two aspects.

02:09One is that it has a positive impact on my health, because going out in the morning,

02:13you know, one exercise is done, then going on leave.

02:16In the second aspect, I would say that I feel empowered and independent.

02:20The way other girls wait for transport in front of the hostel.

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