Gender discrimination begins at school level: speakers
Speakers at a protest rally yesterday alleged that the existing state mechanism has been responsible for recurrence of rape in the country.
They said children develop chauvinistic and discriminatory mentality towards women in school because curriculum and textbooks incorporate content reflecting male-domination in society.
Nari Sanghati, a women’s organisation, arranged the rally in front of the National Museum in the capital, marking the 24th anniversary of the rape and killing of Yasmin Akhter from Dinajpur.
The 14-year-old was picked up in a police van with assurance that she would be dropped home in Dinajpur’s Dashmile area on August 24, 1995. She was on her way to Dinajpur from Dhaka.
A day later, her body was found by the side of a road, bruised and battered.
Rape incidents are frequent in the country because of a culture of impunity, said Taslima Akhter, Nari Sanghati’s acting president and a photographer.
Taslima said the state was to blame for recurrence of rape because it decides what will be a man’s attitude towards a woman in society.
If an anti-rape environment is to be created, protests should start from the grassroots level, she added.
Speaking at the programme, Golam Mustafa, president of Bangladesh Chhatra Federation, said the way children learn about gender from textbooks is instrumental in creating negative mentality towards women.
Such mentality will not change if the curriculum is not changed, Mostafa further said.
Abul Hasan Rubel, a central committee member of Gano Samhati Andolon, said besides social movement, political movement is also required to overcome the prevailing situation.
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