INCIDENTS of sexual harassment in educational institutions go unabated across the country as a High Court order issued in 2009 for installing a Complaint Committee at every institution is not being followed properly. Most cases of sexual harassment in seats of learning remained unreported, because accused people frequently used political influences to neutralise complaints and the authorities concerned did not monitor the formation and working of the committees at the institutions.
A report of Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum, a child rights body, revealed that there were 15 reported incidents of rapes by teachers and four allegations of sexual harassment by teachers in the first three months of this year. According to the United Nations’ 2013 situational analysis on Bangladesh’s women, a staggering 76 per cent of the female students faced incidents of sexual harassment in eight universities of the country.
Despite the High Court order to set up a Complaint Committee at every educational institution, officials of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education and Directorate of Madrasa Education confirmed that they did have no information about how many institutions under them had so far complied with the directive. According to University Grants Commission, 35 of the country’s 49 public universities and 53 of the 103 private universities had put in place these committees till date. In most cases students, especially at madrasas, do not complain against sexual harassment. This is due mostly to the obvious asymmetry of power which teachers hold over students. But factors which compound that asymmetry are political links which such perverted educators court with the influential politicians of their particular area so that they can continue to do their perversion unabated.
Lack of regulatory oversight compounded with the monetary and political ties which such educators have with local influentials coalesce into their abnormal and anti-social behaviour. The root problem is that the violators know that regulatory oversight is weak and non-existent. Monetary ties to local political leaders ensure that they remain untouchable. So the political leaders must reform their behaviour to ensure that such overt patronization stops forever.
