TikTok star reported harassment in Dubai on two separate occasions

Sometimes, people get carried away when they meet their idol or even a celebrity they aren't necessarily fans of; that's the effect of a well-known face. Celebrities invited to store openings and mall events are often exposed to harassment and physical harm because some individuals believe it's acceptable to treat them as commodities. 

Pakistani actress, model, and TikTok celeb Hareem Shah is a recent example of this treatment. 

Earlier this week, Shah - who has over 1 million followers on the video app - was invited to attend the opening of Oasis Mall in Dubai and said she was left shaken by the way crowds treated her. In a post she uploaded on Twitter, the star shared footage capturing the moment she was hounded by a group of men as she entered the shopping center. 

"Hundreds of Pakistani men hurled abuses, pushed & some even kicked me. Is this how you treat your women??" she wrote, commenting on the clip. 

This isn't the first time the star complains of being harassed at an event in the UAE as she faced the same problem a week before. 

On Dec. 7, she also took to Twitter to report that fans had mobbed her at another event. One of them was captured on video inappropriately touching her and stroking her arm. The footage shows her taking the man's hand off of her. The star added the hashtag #MeToo to her post, referring to the huge movement against sexual harassment targeting women. 

Speaking up about what she was subjected to on these two separate occasions and within the same month highlights a major issue female celebrities face in our region. Time and again, social media celebrities, singers, and other public figures were filmed being mobbed by fans during public appearances. Oftentimes, harassment comes regardless of gender; as long as it's a celebrity, crowds will push and shove for a selfie. 

It has sort of become a norm to see footage of public figures being shoved around, pushed, touched without permission, and sometimes hurled at with inappropriate words. 

It's understandable that fans feel a connection with a celebrity they follow and love but this bond doesn't mean it's acceptable to harass them. 

Some try to downplay the harassment celebs often endure at crowded events, saying they should anticipate it since it comes with fame. Incidents like the ones Shah reported aren't limited to the UAE and have become pretty common across the Arab world. 

Earlier this year, Kuwaiti TV presenter and celebrity Halima Bouland was harassed while attending a crowded event in her home country. Several people inappropriately touched her while trying to click selfies with her. She even had to shove one of them away from her. 

In another incident that hit a male Turkish actor in July, a Lebanese crowd went into hysteria when Burak Özçivit attended an event in Lebanon. The videos that circulated makes one thankful there was enough bodyguards around him or else he would've been the victim of a stampede. 

Subjecting anyone, celebrity or not, to this kind of harassment is shameful and outrageous. 

Even though celebrities are a target of such treatment, women in general face these issues without a need to be popular or known. 

Back in October, a woman was cat-called, followed, >and filmed at a mall in Kuwait. The way the incident was headlined is a true reflection of the troubling victim-blaming rhetoric that permeates our region. 

Instead of calling out the harassers who gave the woman no personal space, many posts featuring the video shamed her for wearing "revealing" clothes, as if her choice of outfit has anything to do with goon harassers who can't control themselves.  

The Avenues mall, where the harassment took place, had been reportedly battling this specific issue at the time the incident took place. Though some news pieces made it sound like the organization had succeeded at decreasing harassment in its establishment, it clearly hadn't. 

This form of harassment is so rampant in regional shopping centers that it's time to take more serious action to curb and eventually prevent it.