Children not even safe at home: study

About 95.8 percent of children become victims of violence in their very homes, which is more than the violation occurred in educational institutes or community level, found a national survey by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF).

MJF yesterday unveiled the report, prepared by INCIDIN Bangladesh between June 2020 and May 2021, at a roundtable in the capital's Cirdap auditorium.

The survey also revealed that 86.1 percent of children experienced emotional abuse at educational institutes, while 82 percent were subjected to physical violence.

At the community level, children experienced emotional abuse (84.6 percent) more than physical violence (67 percent).

The situation was similar at workplaces, where 72 percent of children were exposed to emotional abuse, while 55.3 percent were faced with physical violence.

Nearly a quarter of children (24.1 percent) have experienced sexual violence at educational institutes, 36 percent at the community level and 37.8 percent at workplaces.

Within the households, 86.9 percent of children said they have faced physical violence in the name of punitive action. Around 81 percent of guardians were found to be supportive of physical punishment when a child is disobedient.

About 55 percent of children said they faced sexual violence at home.

MJF surveyed 5,078 children in 11 districts, of whom 3,134 were from urban and 1,940 from rural areas.

Teachers, physical instructors, religious instructors, security guards, shopkeepers, neighbours, and unknown individuals were among the perpetrators, according to the report.

Most of the children stated that they did not report  those issues because they were afraid of being judged if they complained to their parents.

"We have to involve families, communities, schools, elite groups of the society and elected representatives to stand against the violence," said Shaheen Anam, MJF executive director.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Distinguished Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said, "We cannot limit violence on children in three categories [physical, emotional and sexual]. The greatest of them all is child labour. Why does a 14-year-old have to go to a welding factory instead of going to school?"

"Digital violence is another major kind of violence. Using children for political purposes is another one, which will be seen frequently in the upcoming election. All violence of such kind should be abolished," he added.

Tony Michael Gomes, director of World Vision, said, "Merely breaking the silence is not enough anymore. Every day the newspapers have stories about violence. The question is -- who will read them all?"

Mohammad Amran Khan, assistant director at the department of social services, said Bangladesh has all the commitment and laws to protect children but some of them have no visible implementation.

"Now we need to implement these laws. We have started to form community-based committees and appoint social workers and volunteers in the programme to protect the children. If NGO workers all come together, it will bring good results," he added.

MJF project coordinator Rafeza Shaheen said the organisation has implemented a pilot project in this regard in nine wards of Dhaka and Barishal.

Shahnaz Huda, professor of law at Dhaka University; Jinat Ara Haque, chief coordinator of WE CAN; Syeda Munira Sultana, ILO national programme coordinator; MM Mahmudullah, additional director of the department of social service; and Mahbuba Bilkis, deputy secretary of the labour and employment ministry, were present at the event among others.