Thirty five-year-old Saleha Khatun (pseudonym), works in a buying house in the city and uses public transport for her traveling. But she has bitter experiences during traveling through public transport.
“I don’t feel safe using public transport, be it bus or leguna. There is no security for women on public transport, whether it is in broad daylight or at night. But I am compelled to use it as it is cheaper compared to other modes of transport,” Saleha said.
Narrating her ordeal on public transport, Saleha said she had to suffer torments from bus drivers, conductors or even the person of opposite gender standing behind her in the queue on bus stops.
“But there are some time, when I find honest men opposing such harassment strongly, but it is very rare,” she added.
Bangladesh has achieved remarkable successes in socioeconomic sector in the recent past and a huge credit for this goes to the womenfolk of the country. They have showed extraordinary performance in different sectors in the society, coming out of age-old system of housewifery. But they have to suffer a lot in the hands of some crooked minds on the street.
BRAC University student Sonia Akter Shila, not real name, lives in Badda area in the capital and goes through a lot of pain and hassle while moving to and from her house to the university campus in Mohakhali area.
“As a girl, I am already on back foot in getting on public transport and the harassment I have to go through on the way, is unbearable sometimes,” Shila said with a little pause.
“More than often I experienced unwanted touch in the crowded bus. Some men also whispered dirty words posing as they are talking on their phones. I also heard blatant comments on my physique on the street, which makes me feel mentally sick sometimes,” she added.
“We the women are getting weak, unsettled from within through such harassment in our daily life. We are losing our motivation to do well, to prosper. This situation needs to be changed,” Shila further said.
Beauty Parlor worker Lota Akter lives in Kalshi area in Mirpur and works in Gulshan and her story is also no different than those of Saleha and Shila.
“The buses rarely stop at specific stoppages and we have to get on or get off from it in motion. Bus conductors and the co-passengers take this chance. They touch us inappropriately in the name of helping and when we try to protest, all the fellow passengers’ stands jointly in slandering us as if it is our fault to use public transport,” Lota said.
Experts said though the government has taken many initiatives to establish gender equity in the country, but those are not enough to make women safe on the streets. They laid maximum emphasis on mass awareness, followed by social movement and strong implementation of law.
Nari Nirjaton Protirodh Jote , a platform working to stop harassment of women, coordinator Jinat Haque said in most cases the victims hesitate to report such incidents to police.
“They think the problem would not be solved, rather would get bigger if they report it to police. They don’t even want to tell these to their families in fear of getting reprimanded as family members too more often blame the women for their ordeals. So we need to create awareness in the first place,” Jinat said.
According to a research of Action Aid, as many as 84 percent of women passengers become victim of harassment on public transport.
Emphasizing on making public transport safe for women, Action Aid Bangladesh country director Farah Kabir said strong and accurate implementation of law and increasing mass awareness are vital in this regard.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman said police is working relentlessly to ensure safety of people regardless of gender in the country.
“But we need to remember one thing, it is not possible to get rid of crimes or control it only by police. Harassing women on public transport is a criminal offence and police is very strict on tackling such crimes. But we all need to give highest emphasis on mass awareness and family education to tackle such outrageous crimes,” he said.
Expressing his concern over women harassment on public transport, Dhaka University Prof Dr Monirul Islam Khan of Department of Sociology said such ordeals are making the women mentally fragile and leaving a deep scar on their minds in the long run.
