More than 63 per cent of adolescent girls and young women face various sorts of harassment in public transport in Dhaka, according to a new survey.
Among the victims, 46.5 per cent are the victims of sexual harassment, the survey shows.
Aachol Foundation conducted the study, titled ‘Harassment on Public Transportation in Dhaka City and its Effect on Women's Mental Health’. It disclosed the findings at a virtual event on Friday.
A total of 805 women between the ages of 13 and 35 took part in the survey. In the survey 86 per cent were students. The survey was conducted from January to March this year.
The survey was conducted on school, college and university students and working women and some housewives in different areas including Azimpur, Mirpur, Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, and Baridhara.
Most of the victim women, who took part in the survey, say they do not protest the incident to avoid further trouble.
Among the victims of sexual harassment, 45.27 per cent suffered mental health problems, according to the report.
The survey report showed that 84.10 per cent of the participants took part in the survey and used the bus as public transport.
According to the report, in addition to sexual harassment, 15 per cent were victims of bullying, 15 per cent were victims of social discrimination, 15 per cent were victims of gender discrimination and 8.2 per cent said that they faced body shaming in public transport.
75 per cent of women who have been sexually harassed say they were harassed by other passengers while 20.4 per cent said they had been exposed to such incidents by public transport workers.
Victim women said most of the perpetrators are over the age of 40 years. About 62 per cent of adolescents reported being sexually abused by people aged between 40 and 59. 36 per cent said they had been sexually harassed by teenagers and young people, ages between 13 and 49.
About 61 per cent of the women victims said they were touched by bus helpers despite no consent while getting on and off the bus.
Farzana Akhter, the executive member of Aanchal Foundation, presented the information of the survey report on the occasion while the event was presided over by Tansen Rose, founder and president of Aanchal Foundation.
Speaking on the occasion, Md. Ismail Hossain, Professor and Head of the Department of Social Work at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, said that the survey findings were worrying. We have to find a way to solve this problem legally and socially, he added.
Lawyer Sheikh Mahdi said at the virtual event that there is no clear legal provision against women being harassed or sexually harassed in public transport. However, some sections of the Penal Code and the Women and Child Abuse Prevention Act provide legal safety against such harassment.
Many women do not protest such incidents fearing further harassment or to avoid the hassle of taking legal action. He said that if there is silence, the criminals will become more reckless.
The Aachol Foundation proposed a 10-point demand to prevent harassment in public transport.
These included the installation of closed-circuit (CC) cameras in public transport, increasing the number of public transports, arranging separate transport for women, making nameplates mandatory for bus drivers, helpers and assistants, and ensuring speedy trials to ensure legal protection for women and girls in public transport.
