Letting eve-teasing go unpunished
Today is National Girl Child Day. Various organisations and institutions are observing the day in different ways. Attempts are also being made to highlight, in this context, different issues and concerns affecting girls' lives. For me, the most serious concern for Bangladeshi girls is the harassment in public sphere, which is familiarly known as "eve-teasing" in this part of the region. In Bangladesh, eve-teasing is a widespread and most disturbing reality for the girls.
We hardly find reports of eve-teasing in the media until it ends up causing some serious damage to somebody. But we do come across, at times, news and reports telling us how terrifying the consequences of eve-teasing can be. And such news does not usually attract public attention until it grows into a national issue.
Various reports and research findings show that at least several dozens of girls committed suicide in the last five years and they did so to get a respite from incessant teasing and bullying by males.
In 2006, Tonni was one such victim who had been forced to stop going to school to escape unbearable physical and mental humiliation caused by eve-teasing. Her fault was that she refused to meddle in a love proposal by a local boy.
The main perpetrators assaulted her brutally in front of teachers and classmates. The most frustrating part in that incident was that there were hundreds witnessing the whole event but nobody even dared to protest!
In fact, there are two notable dimensions to that incident -- aggression of males towards the females, and silence of the people (even teachers!) towards such incidents. Male aggression toward the female is not a new phenomenon in our society, but what was new is the silence of the people.
Because, historically, while there have been incidents of teasing or harassment with women and girls, there has also been voluntary social resistance that has always helped keep things within a tolerant level. However, that trend seems to be decreasing rapidly nowadays and few people now feel obliged to protest, giving a stronger basis to the perpetrators to continue their offences.
Why is that happening? Are the moral values decreasing rapidly? Has this anything to do with our reputation as a corrupt nation? Or are we just collapsing altogether with a diminishing world value to see whatsoever happens around us?
If we scan newspapers over the last five years, we will find hundreds of similar incidents. Simi, Trisa, Tithi, Rumi, Runa, Rina are just a tip of the iceberg, of whom we know of, thanks to the media. But the real extent of the problem is really widespread and pervasive.
If you travel across a busy road or even a quiet public place it's almost inevitable that you will witness events where a boy or group of boys are trying to attract (it's usually the male perspective behind such incidents!) a girl.
In Bangladesh, young girls, especially school and college girls, and female garment workers top the list as victims of eve-teasing. If you are a native Bangladeshi, you may know of somebody who was forced to discontinue her education for the fear of harassment outside home. This is why eve-teasing is also one of the major factors contributing to early marriage.
Eve-teasing brings grave consequences. A few years ago Narayanganj's Simi Banu set a vivid example of what eve-teasing can ultimately cause. She was an innocent student of fine arts at Dhaka University who used to travel through the same route to and from home. Some local boys started teasing her regularly and it ultimately grew into a terrible agony for her. At one stage, Simi Banu saw no other alternative but to commit suicide.
With the rise of garments industries, the country's largest export-earner, thousands of women and girls of various age groups are moving into public places and their experiences are also not so pleasant.
They frequently undergo unnecessary touching, pushing, shoving, or vulgar comments on the public transports and streets, while on the other hand they are also frequently harassed at workplaces by male colleagues or bosses. These experiences severely hinder women's productivity as well as mobility. In the long run, these women and girls, their families, and thus the whole society suffer.
Given the strict patriarchal social system, it is almost daring for a woman to protest against teasing in public places. That may further endanger her security, on the one hand, and there is possibility that she herself will be held responsible for the incident. In our society, it is usually the girl who is finally held responsible for such incidents.
On the other hand, there are so many loopholes and farces in the law that the perpetrators seldom get punished. The role of law enforcement agencies is also very frustrating. Since they are mostly males, who possess the same masculine attitude towards women, at the event of dealing with such cases, rather than helping, they themselves have become perpetrators on countless occasions.
So, one may conclude that eve-teasing has to be looked into from a broader social perspective. And change is not possible without an all-out approach. Such an approach demands everyone's participation.
The impact of eve-teasing is huge in both individual and national life. Victimised women and girls do not only get psychologically troubled, but also feel continuously insecure. They develop a sense of distrust and hatred towards men.
In fact, within the patriarchal social fabric, eve-teasing is a weapon to weaken, hurt or force women to consign to domestic affairs. It restricts women's mobility in the public sphere, which contributes to their diminishing participation in outdoor activities.
There is increasing realisation that eve-teasing is a huge threat to women's empowerment. Altogether, though apparently invisible, the cost of eve-teasing in our national and individual life is huge.
However, in Bangladesh, there is no strong law to prevent eve-teasing. Article 76 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976 and Article 509 of the Penal Code of 1860 affirm that any acts, conducts, or verbal abuses that are used to disgrace women are punishable by law. However, these provisions really seem minor compared to the upshots of the incidents.
Article 10(2) of the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act 2000 mildly addressed eve-teasing. However, that section of the law was eliminated in 2003, through amendment and justified it on the ground of manipulation of the law.
In its place, a new provision has been added under Article 9 of the present law that says that if a woman is forced to commit suicide as a direct consequence of somebody's wilful dishonour/sexual harassment/assault, then the guilty person will be liable to a maximum of ten years and a minimum of five years of imprisonment.
However, there are controversies regarding this provision, as it does not specify whether the term "wilful dishonour or assault" includes eve-teasing or not. Besides, according to legal experts, it is extremely difficult to establish the fact in favour of the victim. Moreover, the provision of 5-10 years of imprisonment is minor compared to the consequences.
This means that there are legal provisions to thwart the offence, but those are either very weak or deficient of a clear-cut definition. This helps the perpetrators escape trial or get away with very little penalty, which discourages the victimised women seeking justice.
Moreover, no matter how weak those laws are, most people are unaware of their existence as they are hardly aware of any implementation of those. Considering all these, we can say that laws alone are not enough. What we need most is to change the overall social outlook toward women. We need to raise collective voice and take action against eve-teasing, as we also need to increase the gender-sensitivity of the police force.
The government has already started a project with UNDP on making the police department gender-sensitive, which is a very positive initiative. Now it's time for others to join with the efforts by the government.
Civil society, NGOs and women's organisations should expand their awareness and advocacy interventions. Media needs to stop portraying eve-teasing in a romantic tone, as they often do. Teachers need to do some counselling with students. And we all need to start talking about this before it gets too late.
Mamunur Rashid is Deputy Coordinator, Steps Towards Development.
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