Degree

BS (Social Sciences & Liberal Arts)

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Department

Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts

Date of Award

Spring 2022

Date of Submission

2022-06-16

Advisor

Adam Abdullah, Senior Research Associate, Karachi Urban Lab (KUL)

Project Type

SSLA Culminating Experience

Access Type

Restricted Access

Abstract

This research study examines the impacts of public harassment on female mobility and psychological well-being in low, middle, and upper-income women in Karachi. I investigate women who occupy streets and parks, malls and bazaars, convenience stores, and public transport for daily commute. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach; for the quantitative part, I employ the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) to assess how psychological well-being is impacted as a result of experiences of harassment; and the qualitative part includes in-depth interviews to help me examine how mobility is impacted. Participants for this study include 111 women belonging to varying socioeconomic statuses (SES), between the ages of 19-25, out of which 6 were recruited for the qualitative interviews. The reason I wanted to stick with the aforementioned age bracket is purely due to personal choice. The sampling techniques include convenience and random sampling. Additionally, the results of this study indicate that participants felt severely restricted in terms of their mobility due to the experiences of harassment they had encountered. Such restrictions are not only self-imposed but also imposed by parents and other family members. Further, the results also highlight how the participants' psychological well-being is adversely impacted, resulting in varying amounts (normal, mild, moderate, severe, and extremely severe) of stress, anxiety, and depression.

Pages

1, 75

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