Meesha Shafi calls out designers who've remained quiet since her #MeToo allegations

Singer-cum-actor Meesha Shafi has called out those in the fashion industry who have remained quiet since she came forward with sexual harassment allegations against Ali Zafar.

“Friends who have used me to make their hideous clothes look good for over a decade, is this why you’re quiet?” Shafi tweeted as she shared a link to a story published on Geo.tv regarding a male model opening up about rampant sexual harassment in the fashion industry.

“The support I’m getting from strangers is life changing and overwhelming. At a time when those I have considered friends, worked with, helped, supported and lent a shoulder to cry on in trying times, have vanished, I thank you all for being my strength. Ever grateful,” she continued.

Shafi’s tweets came in response to a story on Geo.tv about model Mujahid Rasool’s recent posts slamming the culture of harassment in the fashion industry and the exploitation of male talent by male gatekeepers.

Rasool took to Instagram to talk about the prevalence of harassment in the fashion industry. Using the hashtags #MeToo and #WeToo, the model in a series of posts said, "I have been struggling in this field for 7-8 years which has been an experience full of harassment."

Pakistani model opens up about rampant sexual harassment in fashion industry

Rasool took to Instagram to talk about the prevalence of harassment in the entertainment industry

The model shared screenshots of unnamed persons contacting him with an opportunity for work, but with 'conditions' attached. 

Further, Shafi in her series of tweets posted late last night also slammed a Twitter user who said the singer-cum-actor is “not an ordinary woman” and hence was “in a position to give a shut up call” when Zafar harassed her but she did not.

“I am no ordinary woman, so I can’t be harassed? Please go over the list of Hollywood names that spoke up. And when the ordinary women spoke up, response was/is, ‘oh whatever, no other woman of note has come forward’. You just want to go back to the status quo. Not happening!” she tweeted.

Shafi had also tweeted in support of Rasool on Thursday. “Proud of him for speaking up! Silence does not lead to change,” she had said.

Last month, Shafi accused Ali Zafar of sexually harassing her in what was the first high-profile #MeToo incident in Pakistan.