Contextualising sexual harassment of adolescent girls in Bangladesh

Abstract

Violence against women is a social mechanism confirming women's subordination in many societies. Sexual violence and harassment have various negative psychological impacts on girls, including a persistent feeling of insecurity and loss of self-esteem. This article aims to contextualize a particular form of sexual harassment, namely "eve teasing", experienced by Bangladeshi adolescent girls (12-18 years) which emerged from a study of adolescent sexual behaviour carried out by young people. The study used qualitative methods and a participatory approach, including focus group discussions, key informant interviews and observation. Despite taboos, unmarried adolescents actively seek information about sex, erotic pleasure and romance. Information was easily available from videos, mobile phone clips and pornographic magazines, but reinforced gender inequality. "Eve teasing" was one outlet for boys' sexual feelings; they gained pleasure from it and could show their masculinity. The girls disliked it and were afraid of being blamed for provoking it. Thus, "eve teasing" is a result of socio-cultural norms relating to sexuality, as well as a lack of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services in Bangladesh. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive sexuality education that goes beyond a mere health focus and addresses gender norms and helps youth to gain social-sexual interaction skills.

(Re)theorising laddish masculinities in higher education

“…A subsequent wave of grassroots activism and policy conversation was set within an ebb and flow of media stories which incorporated both genuine concern and elements of moral panic (Phipps 2015, Phipps andYoung 2015a andb). These debates in the UK paralleled similar ones internationally, for instance around 'eve teasing' in South Asian countries (Nahar et al 2013, Mills 2014, and 'bro cultures' (Chrisler et al 2012), 'hookup cultures' (Garcia et al 2012, Sweeney 2014 and 'rape culture' (Heldman and Brown 2014) in the US. 1 Within much of the discussion there was a sense of a continuum between 'everyday' forms of sexism and more violent sexual assault (see Kelly 1988), and an understanding of violence against university women as a global phenomenon.…”

Majmawalas and sexual health promotion in Bangladesh: An ethnography of street healers in Dhaka City

“…Instead, they are more likely to be derided for their 'lowly' social status and their 'minimal' education. They are likely to be seen as problems by the public health scholars (such as Nahar et al, 2013), conveying incorrect information and providing remedies unlikely to work.…”

“…They do not try to understand how people in the community discuss and share their knowledge about sexuality. They (Bhuiyan, 2014;Nahar et al, 2013, PLAN, 2010van Reeuwijk et al, 2013UNESCO, 2009) also fail to understand that institutionalised schooling, formal sex education or the existing public health interventions may not be the appropriate way to discuss sex and sexuality in a non-Western context. However, they prefer to keep trying, with an approach where they see community as a receiver of their ideas.…”

“…A number of studies, such as Khan et al (2008), Hawkes and Collumbien (2007), Nahar et al (2013) and Schensul et al (2006), emphasise psychosocial concerns in sexual health promotion. They suggest incorporating psychosocial concerns in sexual health promotion but again they rely on the existing etic approach.…”

“…Men's perception about ownership of women and their bodies are key aspects of the patriarchy. This perception provokes men to think about particular masculine practices where they see the female body as a subject of sexual penetration (Islam & Karim, 2011;Nahar et al, 2013;Rahman et al, 2013).…”