46.5pc experience sexual harassment
More than 63 per cent of adolescent girls and young women in the Bangladesh capital city of Dhaka face various types of harassment, mostly sexual, in public transports, said a survey report published on Friday.
Among the victims covered by the survey, 46.5 per cent experienced sexual harassment in such transports and these incidents mentally affected around 80 per cent of the victims, said the survey conducted by Aachol Foundation.
Most of the harassers, 75 per cent, were bus passengers and less than 1 per cent of the victims sought legal action after the incidents, the report revealed.
The survey, titled Harassment on Public Transportation in Dhaka City and its Effect on Women’s Mental Health, was conducted on 805 girls and women aged between 13 years and 35 years from different schools, colleges, universities and companies from March to May in 2022.
The survey sample included passengers of buses, trains, legunas and ridesharing services, said foundation officials while presenting the report in a virtual event.
Those speaking on the report in the event said that the findings were ‘alarming’.
While presenting survey findings, foundation co-leader for the research and analysis unit Farzana Akter Laboni said that 84.1 per cent of the sampled women used buses, 4.58 per cent trains, 3.27 per cent CNG-run auto-rickshaws and 1.53 per cent ridesharing services.
According to the report, 63.4 per cent of the respondents said that they faced different types of harassment while travelling by public transports in the six months preceding the survey.
Of the total victims, 46.5 per cent said that they had suffered sexual harassment, mostly in the form of touching, 15.3 per cent bullying, 15.2 per cent social discrimination, 14.9 per cent gender discrimination while 8.2 per cent said that they had encountered body shaming.
Among those who underwent sexual harassment, 75 per cent said that they were harassed by other bus passengers, followed by drivers’ assistants, 20.4 per cent, hawkers, 3 per cent, and drivers, 1.6 per cent.
They also said that 61.7 per cent of the perpetrators were aged between 40 years and 59 years and the rest 36.3 per cent between 13 years and 39 years.
The report said that 32.8 per cent of the victims were sexually harassed while standing in a crowded public transport, with 34.8 per cent of them staying silent after the harassment and 20.4 per cent avoiding public transports after the experience.
Only 4.2 per cent sought help from fellow passengers while 0.5 per cent pursued legal action.
In 36.9 per cent of the cases seeking help or protesting the harassment, other passengers ignored the incident and in 2 per cent cases they supported the perpetrator.
The incidents of sexual harassment also leave negative impacts on the mental health of victims as the report showed that 29.4 per cent of the victims developed fear about using public transports, 21.2 per cent became traumatised, 16.4 faced inferiority complex and 13.8 per cent suffered depression.
Almost all respondents, 97.6 per cent, demanded more reserved buses for women in Dhaka while 94 per cent demanded more reserved seats for women in buses.
Aachol Foundation founding chair Tansen Rose said that violence against women was increasing day by day and she urged the authorities to take immediate action against harassment of women in public transports.
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology professor Md Ismail Hossain suggested change in hostile mind-set against women and new laws to check incidents of sexual harassment.
Dhaka Bar Association barrister Shyikh Mahdi said that protests from people and the implementation of laws were the solution to this problem.
In the sample, 68.4 per cent were aged between 19 and 24 years and 86 per cent were students.
– With New Age input
