Are we doing enough to make education safe for girls?

When the idea of ​​a routine is established in a child’s life, it almost turns into a mental checklist and usually sticks with them into adulthood (a sort of mantra) – a check box before walking through the door. In our schoolgirl days, the checklist consisted of making sure we had all our books, packing our lunch, carrying our ID cards, and not standing in an empty classroom or in the presence of a male teacher or staff member alone in a room. What seems like an innocent ritual is actually a reminder of how girls are not safe anywhere, even in their educational institutions.

According to a survey conducted by Plan International in 2022, 74% of 2,232 participants aged 10 to 24 reported incidents of violence and harassment in educational institutions. It appears that children in Khulna division face the highest cases of violence and harassment (89.7 percent), followed closely by Barishal (80 percent) and Rajshahi with 78.8 percent, according to the study.

Although the statistics may seem glaring, we must remember that these are only a few of the cases reported. The actual number of cases intentionally swept under the rug or hidden, influenced by fear of social ostracism or bullying, could be even more drastic.

When it comes to identifying perpetrators, teachers and staff members usually make up the majority of culprits. Earlier this month, in Khagrachhari, an indigenous schoolgirl was sexually assaulted by her teacher, Abul Hasnat Muhammad Sohail Rana, who, according to media reports, had been arrested in a case of attempted rape of a Grade 10 student in February 2021. After his release, he returned to work at the same school despite protests from other students. Additionally, according to multiple reports, an investigation at a school in Kushtia in 2018 revealed that Rana had sexually harassed several students.

The Khagrachhari rape case echoes the case of Nusrat Jahan Rafi, a student at Feni madrasa who was set on fire when she refused to withdraw a sexual assault complaint she had filed against her principal, Siraj Ud Doula. Another example occurred when two teachers of St Scholastica Girls’ School and College in Patharghata area of ​​Chattogram city were booked into court for sexually abusing a fifth grade schoolgirl for more than a year. Every time she tried to resist them, they scolded her in class and threatened to fail the exams.

It is important to note that not only were the attackers inherently responsible for the safety and well-being of the students, but these individuals, even after violating the terms of their positions, were once again placed in a position of power. to be able to continue their misdeeds and subject other children to the same horrors.

Even if a higher number of reported cases came from outside Dhaka, it would be wrong to conclude that this problem only affects outside the capital. In February this year, Murad Hossain Sarkar, head teacher of the Azimpur branch of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Dhaka, was remanded for two days in connection with a case filed for alleged sexual harassment on a student.

This shows that children, most of whom are girls according to reported cases, cannot go to school safely anywhere. The perpetrators are not just teachers or administrative staff, but also other trusted people (within or around schools) and even other children themselves, which raises the question: who or what should blame us for this? And why do a large number of victims continue to remain silent for days, months, or even (as the case of Saint Scholastica illustrates) years?

While the perpetrators, especially the adults, are of course accountable, the culture that surrounds young girls, the objectification to which they are subjected, and the questions surrounding the validity of their autonomy in our society as a whole creates the perfect recipe for this systemic phenomenon. disaster. The aforementioned cases highlight the systemic problems prevalent within our education system. Even if students speak out, they usually face greater repercussions than the perpetrators themselves. Typically, corporal punishment and blackmail are used alongside threats as means of intimidation. Girls may not even realize they are being abused or fear consequences if they speak out.

This further contributes to the culture of silencing victims as they do not have the necessary provisions to seek justice at the administrative level in their educational institutions. Often, the general reputation of certain teachers as good educators, or their popularity among other students, leads those around the victim to question their motives and resort to virtue signaling in favor of the perpetrator. This can even go as far as publicly humiliating the victim and assassinating their personality in an attempt to restore the image of the attacker, leading to further defamation. And so the cycle of horror continues.

What certainly doesn’t help is that the Bangladesh Parliament passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act in 2017, which has a special provision allowing a minor boy or girl to marry in certain exceptional cases . This provision could simply legitimize the marriage of a child who happens to be a rape survivor to the rapist under a “special provision” as well.

An estimated 60 per cent of schools and colleges in the country are yet to form sexual harassment complaints committees, despite a High Court directive issued a decade ago. Even among the very few institutions that created such anti-sexual harassment cells, students apparently did not know where to file complaints, and the cells existed only on paper. At this point, it is impossible to question what could take a period of 10 years for an institution to form a committee to ensure the safety and well-being of its students.

Overall, narrow avenues for holding abusers to account trap young girls in a situation where they must typically continue their education in the presence of their abusers, or face dire consequences or stigmatization if they choose to speak out. The impacts of such violence are not limited only to individual victims who experience the ordeal themselves, but rather affect the entire female population and their pursuit of education which depends on the decisions made by parents, guardians or society as a whole. As a result, girls are deprived of the opportunity to pursue or even continue their education. Another survey by Plan International, conducted with the participation of 4,305 households, found that about 35.3 percent of parents believe that fear of sexual harassment is an important factor that pushes parents to marry off their minor daughters, while that 25.6 percent of parents marry off their minor daughters. out of concern for social exclusion.

So what can we do? What is certainly non-negotiable is the need for safe, impartial and inclusive committees to ensure confidential and safe reporting mechanisms in schools. Students should never feel unsafe or vilified if and when they choose to report instances of any form of sexual violence. Additionally, members of a committee should come from diverse backgrounds and be equipped to handle such issues with the utmost sensitivity. Children also need to know them, otherwise they may not trust them enough to report incidents. In the event that a committee member himself is at fault, contingency procedures must be in place.

In Bangladesh, the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education is severely limited as the subject is viewed through a highly stigmatized lens. Therefore, although implementing comprehensive sexuality education in all schools is a distant idea, rudimentary knowledge regarding “good/bad touching” and consent should be disseminated among students, administrators, staff and parental authorities.

When discussing “women’s issues,” the main idea that almost always emerges is that women should have access to education, and that education is the only sustainable way for them to gain agency. However, systemic barriers that prevent girls from continuing their education remain deeply rooted in our society. Every year we are shown statistics of women excelling in their exams and reports of their achievements, which are presented as a direct result of all the efforts made by the said society to empower girls, but are we doing enough, as a as society, to eliminate the barriers that have prevailed?

Syeda Afrin Tarannum is a sub-editor at Campus, Rising Stars and Star Youth.

Fatima Jahan Ena is a member of the Daily Star editorial team.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

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