Women don’t report harassment in fear of victim-blaming

Speakers at a virtual roundtable demanded a violence-free and safer city for women and girls, especially those who work in the informal sector and contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP).

The event, titled "Involving Adolescent Girls in Decision Making to Ensure Safer Cities", was jointly organised by Plan International Bangladesh and The Daily Star, as part of the Girls Get Equal Freedom in Public Spaces: Safer Cities Campaign 2021.

Morium Mesa, manager, Women's Rights & Gender Equity, ActionAid Bangladesh said that according to a 2017 study by the organisation, they asked women why they don't report incidents of harassment and violence they face in public spaces.

"We found they don't report because they will be blamed for why they were that at that specific place or how they were dressed. So the problem is bigger than we think," she said.

"Besides, in plans of infrastructure development of our city, the voice of women regarding how they want the city is completely ignored," she said.

Shamima Begum, joint commissioner of DMP said the police alone can't develop an entire system to protect women and girls.

"Rather, if we can ensure enough lighting and close circuit cameras in the entire city, inside transports and workplaces, the harasser will know that they can be identified and caught," she said.

"Besides, women must report any incident of violence and harassment, as we have expanded our women's help desk services in every police station during Mujib year. There are national emergency helpline 999, other helplines and apps for reporting violence against women and girls," she added.

Mentioning the role of Beat Policing, Shamima also said that women must have the contacts of the officials deployed in their respective beats to report any violence or harassment.

Brigadier General Md Zobaidur Rahman, chief health officer of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) said, "Only 13 percent of people have been working in the formal sector, the rest have been working for the informal economy and contributing to our GDP."

"To ensure healthcare for women and girls in slums and low-income settlements, we have five maternity centres, where they can have antenatal and postnatal care, safe delivery and maternal health services at a minimal rate," he said.

"There are also family planning officials in each centre, who have been distributing contraception, informing women about family planning methods and making those available for them," he added.

Dr Md Aman Ullah, programme manager of adolescent health at Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said safety for adolescents is a multi-sectoral approach, and every stakeholder must perform their responsibility.

The ministry through its various programmes has been creating awareness at the school level, regarding personal hygiene, child marriage, adolescent health issues, gender-based violence and much more, he said.

Dr Asa Torkelson, country representative, UNFPA Bangladesh said, "Bangladesh has made commendable advances in terms of gender equality and women empowerment. Yet the level of gender-based violence remains too high."

Girls and women need to be safe in all places -- school, home, hospitals, workplaces and public spaces, she added. 

Dr Ferdousi Begum, lead of SRHR, Plan International Bangladesh; Mayabee Arannya, team lead at peer education team, Kotha; Md Akhtaruzzaman, UN Habitat Representative in Bangladesh; Md Selim Reza, Chief Cxecutive Officer of DNCC, among others, spoke at the event moderated by Zyma Islam, reporter at The Daily Star.