NEWSPAPER reports say that Mohona VIP Students’ Hostel was attacked by unknown miscreants and instead of protecting the girls, the female superintendent of the hostel blamed them instead and accused them of wearing provocative clothing like ‘shirts and pants’. Such preposterously insensitive allegations show the indifference of such private establishments in regards to the safety of women and also that they are only interested in their bills being paid.
Reports by national dailies say these are mostly private establishments that are run without abiding by any rule or regulations. Most women who live there are faced with physical insecurity on a daily basis as the hostel owners offer no protection against harassment (sometimes instigating it themselves).
A staff member of Nibedika Students Hostel was quoted saying that the hostel has 50 branches all over the city and the owner, a Mustafizur Rahman, has been running other women’s hostels (like Mohona, Apan Ghar etc) as well.
The aforementioned situation shows that such hypocritical landlords are not interested in maintaining gender safety and are more interested in the five thousand taka rent they receive from each individual lodger (with 5 lodgers generally in one room). Even with receiving almost twenty thousand taka from each room, the greedy landlords take no initiatives to give the girls proper meals or protection.
Girls who come from impoverished regions or families to educate themselves or to earn a living have to depend on these hostels for shelter even though they are not taken care of as per the handsome amount of money they pay. Reports also say that the residential facilities for female students at Dhaka University and other educational institutions in the city are inadequate in number so with no alternative, these girls set to search for hostels. One has to pay double to get a place in a hostel close to coaching centres, educational institutes or offices.
The Secretary for Women and Children Affairs said that they were arranging lodging for females who wish to study but the total number of seats (1408) is not even a quarter of the amount of females needing housing assistance. The time has come for the government to make concrete efforts to establish secure living facilities for its many taxpaying female citizens of the country and if not that, to ensure the private establishments offering such lodging services should abide by proper rules and regulations and cater to the needs of the female masses.
The government, particularly the Universities and Colleges, should make adequate safe-housing provisions for the female members.
