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When Women Fear to Tread

by Aasha Mehreen Amin, Rabat Fahmida and Fayza Haq
***In crime capitals of the world, women know the areas to avoid. No one who can avoid it is going to walk through Harlem at midnight. In Dhaka, such means of avoiding muggings, rapes and assault are fewer. Violent crime occurs in broad daylight, in the best of neighbourhoods. Our main issue now is the deteriorating situation of women's security in our capital city. Irrelevant of whether she is a housewife, a student or even a doctor or executive. In the eyes of the hijackers these women are simply vulnerable targets.
YOUNG girls between 9 and 18 are the most vulnerable. Incidents of rape, kidnapping and mutilation occur the most in the case of this group. Just looking through the pages of any dally gives one an Idea of how frequently such gruesome acts of brutality occur and how easily the criminals get away with It. An acid thrower may get life term imprisonment and a rapist, a mere 10 years sentence. But with bribes and connections, these beasts are likely to go scot free much before their prison term — free to pounce on a new victim.
The streets of Dhaka have become unsafe for women no matter what their age. Because of this, most school-going girls travel with guardians. For some families, however, it is not always possible to make sure that their child Is chaperoned. When there are three or four school-going children in a family, all going to different schools, guardians have to make a choice as to who will go unaccompanied. Invariably, it Is the eldest teenaged daughter. Although parents do not feel happy about this, they have no other alternative.
But beyond the precautions lie the uneasy reasons. Why should one have to restrict one's way of Hfe? Often after an assault, the victim is held partially responsible. It is all too easy to opt out that way and to forgel that passive spectators, criminals, and a lethargic police force are responsible.
The girls themselves seem to have ambivalent feelings about their security. Tasleema. a 15-year-old, goes to Agrani Uchcha Balika Bidyalaya. all by herself from Farmgate. When asked whether she feels airaid when she travels alone she expresses her fear of trucks and buses on busy streets. But what about things like kidnapping, rape etc? Her answer to this is simple: "I Just don't think about such things
This kind of misguided complacency often proves to be very dangerous. On February 15th, an advertisement tn a Bengali dally announced a substantial award for the return of an 11 year-old girl whp had gone to her friend's house and did not come back. A few weeks later, the girl was found although the parents refused to say how when or where. When asked whal had happened to Baby (not her real name) while she had been held captive, the lather says. "A girl of that age Is kidnapped Isn't the motive obvious? I don't want any publicity My child has gone through enough Just let us be What Is the use of writing about It In newspa pers? Nothing will come of It." The fear of social stigma Is almost always the reason behind unreported rapes or kidnapping
The feeling of despair Is shared by everyone, especially the victims themselves. In a television programme, Drlshtlkon aired a few weeks ago, Azra Jabeen the magician who fought off a group of hijackers with her karate skills, not to mention extreme courage, expressed her disgust at the apathy of people. "What really shocked me was that a whole crowd was watching me being stabbed repeatedly and not a single person came for ward to help. Why are people so cowardly so Indifferent?"
A few weeks ago another Incident occurred that shows Just how far this Indifference can go Gauri Rani. a young woman holding a clerical post, went to collect her salary from the Directorate of Health (Swastha Adhldaptar) In Mohakhall When she was unable to do so an office driver and darwan Jeered al her mak ' Ing lewd remarks as to how she could get her money by pleasing the officer concerned In another way Gauri Rani immediately complained to one of the officers and when she came downstairs from the office building, the same driver forced her into a car and took her to another office nearby where he and five others raped her Al the time when she was being abducted there were people near the building on the streets but everyone seemed to be deaf to her screams Later after she had been taken to Dhaka Medical College to be examined, the attendants at the hospital turned her away telling her that the office was closed and Ihal she would have to come another day The doctors at the DMC were unavailable for comment
A sub insper tor of Gulshan Thana, who prefers not to have his name mentioned says that most of these violent crimes against women are love related with love having a rather distorted meaning In March, 13 year old RaMa was burnt to death for refusing to marry Shanu - an employee of Tiger Textile Mills in Gazlpur. Cases of mutilation, rape and kidnapping, which the sub inspector terms as peculiar crimes, have drastically Increased. Unemployment and deterioration in morals, he adds, are the key catalysts for these heinous crimes.
Frightened Housewives
If there Is one valid generalisation to be made about women it is that the overwhelming majority of them have been and are engaged In domestic food preparation, maintenance of the home and clothing, and — If they are mothers — in child-rearing. Single, married, or divorced, regardless of whether she holds a paid Job or not, a woman is a housewife, at least part of her life Even If she can afford to hire another woman to do her housework, the responsibility of running the household is hers. It Is not possible for a housewife to completely abandon going outdoors altogether, fearing hijackers
Rausban who stays in Lalmatia regularly fetched her sister-in-laws two children from their respective schools She has been recently married and being a pari time student of B. Com. quite liked her escorting duties. Until that horrifying afternoon when young hijackers took away her gold bangles and chain at dagger point, not even 250 yards from Kaushan s house. The whole situation left her speechless for several hours, and It was similarly shocking for the other family members, loo This family Is one of the oldest of Lalmatla and an at lack of this sort on one of their family members was beyond their imagination
Fears of going out shopping or getting children from schools for the housewives are increasing Housewives mov Ing around areas such as Launatla or Dhanmondi. especially In the afternoons have faced terrifying experiences. Many of these cases are not even reported to the poHee. who are unresponsive
Muggers did not lake a break even during Eld. As Mrs Chowdhury and her 12 year old daughter, who stay tn Eskaton. went to Aarong. at Asad Gate for their last minute Eld shopping Never did they have the faintest Idea that, qn their way after the shopping at 2:00 tn the afternoon, they would be robbed of the two gold bangles Mrs Chowdhury was wearing It was more shocking that not even one person in the neighbourhood came to their rescue And talking about the police, they Instead accused Mrs Chowdhury of not taking the right precaution' That Is. she should not have worn the ban gfea. This la the cfoeeir raac-tlon of. "She asked for ft." which Is bureaucratic and social shoulder-shrugging.
Intimidated Working
Women
Nadira Sultana, who was going to work at the Radio was accosted by some men who brandished pistols and knives, and made her hand over her gold bangles, earnings and watch. "I was so shocked by the violence and the aggres stveness of the encounter that 1 couldn't sleep at nights for weeks and stopped going to work for months. 1 was psychologically depressed, confused and positively Intimidated." Nadira said.
Najma Haq. who teaches tn a school tn Mohammadpur, not far from her house, was coming back from a staff meeting at 4 pm, when she was confronted with a young man in a motor cycle with a dagger, demanding her rW>ney In her purse and her Jewellery Najma made no resistance What really frightened me most about the experience was that I knew the young man who took my possessions. He lived In the neighbourhood and I knew he had taken to drugs I was scared about reporting the matter to the police and frightened sick about the whole Incident because I feared that the young man would take revenge . It was all the more agonising and embarrassing because I knew the identity of the culprit . I was so shook up by the experience that I could not go to work for weeks and later had to be accompanied by one of my brothers for days It was a horrific experience that I don't want anyone to encounter but it occurs every other day tf you read the reports tn the newspapers. This Is despite the fact that 80% of the people are frightened and hesitant to re port the matter to the police,' Najma narrated
"I believe the law and order situation has really gone from bad to worse, said Jahanara. a nine to six office worker "Six months ago the lawlessness had reduced and some mutans had been rounded up. But this problem Is again rearing Its ugly head"
"I know of number of hi-Jacking by men on motorcy ctes My toster tn lew was com Ing from Shaymoll and passing through Road No ? Dhanmandl, arhen at knife point her bangles and chains stere removed There were police at a ministers home nearby but they did not budge she added
"Only yesterday al Rd No 2 Dhanmandl. Jual next to my of fire a man was stabbed when he tried to slop the hljw king of hla wife a Jewellery. This happened In broad daylight and the onlookers did nothing to stop It. The rascals even ex ploded a cocktail bomb to frighten the crowd ol curious bystanders The police was there, at the Indian High Commission, but they failed to take action. The people hi-Jacked refuse to give their names to the newspapers for fear of revenge", she continued.
"A friend of mine, a few days back, was hijacked for the second time this year, at Panthopoth while going to Green Road. She was accosted by three boys carrying knives and ramdaos This was at 9 am and she yelled out for help but the onlookers were too frightened to do anything and the miscreants got away with her jewellery. It is now dangerous for women to wear any Jewellery of any sort while going out in rickshaws or baby taxies. It is also not safe travel Ung after dark". Jahanara fur ther added.
Sonia Panni. the owner of a boutique and a health club, was driving down Gulshan Avenue when the tyres burst and the car skidded This was caused by pins thrown either by peo pie on the side of the road or a bus that had passed by I was hit and tn a state of shock. The onlookers failed to come to my rescue. Out of the blue, a man In the garb of a police, appeared and asked for my licence and blue book. He sud denly hit a teenaged rickshaw puller He was then Joined by a second person, also In uniform. The two suggested that they would take me to the po lice station and say I hit the boy unless I gave them Taka 1000 When I had payed up they got my tyres fixed and let me go." Sonia said
"When the matter was re ported to the higher authori-ties tn the police, upon investigation It was found that the two men were not traffic police but security guards at an embassy. I find this incident quite worrying." she added.
Sonia continued about the subject of hijacking. "A second incident took place at Kamal Ataturk Road at 9 a.m. An unknown car came and blocked my car from the front. At the same time a van blocked me from the back. The car got banged from the front and the nameplate fell off.The people from the two vehicles demanded money. The common feature Is that they hit you and then they demand money out of you. I sat tight and hollered for help but the passersby were afraid to do anything Fortunately, an office driver, who was passing by stopped to Investigate Seeing him they got Into their vehicles and drove off. Upon Investigation It was found out that the mlscre ant was a chauffeur, who caused mischief while driving back from school, having dropped the children 1 know of other cases of single women drivers being victimised
"Strangely enough. "Sonia continued." these Incidents occur mostly in different areas of Bananl. Gulshan and Dhanmandl. I've driven Into Old Dhaka, even In a baby tax. with plenty of money . but I've never been accosted Congested areas like Sadar Ghat. Nawab Bari and Islampur seem to be extremely secure, as far as women are con cerned Around Mohakhali, Ralbazar Kolabagan. and Lalmatia, there are a lot of mastans' who are Involved In hijacking . Sons of well- to -do parents are also Involved In this."
She added," When caught and when the police try to apprehend . there are telephone calls from higher authorities In the political hierarchy. The police are then perplexed. If they don’t release the culprit their Job Is In jeopardy. This Is one reason why the security Is not tight."
The Inspector General of Police, Mr Enamul Huq. informed The Dally Star" that the density of crime areas was found more In the suburbs like Mtrpur. Demra and Shobujbagh. He said that there was no section on hijacking In the penal code as there was on robbery, extortion and theft. He bracketed hijacking with robbery and said that there were 951 cases registered In 1991 throughout the whole country, up from 828 cases in 90. 783 Incidents In 89: 663 In 88 and 623 In 87 In a country with a population of 1 10 million people the figures appear rather low so that one can surmise that cases go un reported.
The IG explained that there were more women coming out to work In the garment factories. The per centage of women working in hospitals, schools and colleges . offices and tn the NGOs had also gone up. "It was only natu ral that the rate of crime should go up These crimes are committed because people want to obtain property by unfair means There are a lot of unemployed and adventurous people wanting to have fun," he said.
What was the reason for the crimes to step up? The IG jx>-lice explained that this was because people do not respect women as they did before. as well as people becoming more acquisitive and wishing to get something out of others Irrespective of age and sex. In areas like Kolabagan and Gulshan the women come out to work in thousands. This attracts the criminals, who prey on the most vulnerable. There are cases of crimes committed tn Dhanmandl and Crescent Lake, specially during morning walks.
What was his advice to women to avoid such attacks? Mr Enamul Huq suggested a number of remedfes:
— Women should try to control the timing, circumstance and atmosphere and avoid lonely places as well as mobs. Walking early morning or at night was dangerous too.
— Those who can help It should get some companion and go out accompanied.
— There should be family awareness about where a woman is heading and alertness as to whether she Is being followed.
— A woman s clothes, appearance and mode of conduct would be such as to not invite problems."I would advise them to be alert and to weigh the circumstances." he stressed.
l{ is often heard that people are caught one day and are back on the street again.What did the 1G police have to say to that?"l only wish and hope that once a man Is taken Into custody he Is dealt with reasonably so that he does not have a chance to do It again. The trend of recurring should not continue. People should know the rules and regulations and be aware of their rights and responsibilities. When there la a witness . he should be prepared to speak the truth during the Investigation and the trial. People should help the police to help themselves." he commented.
Mr Enamul Huq found it natural for crimes like hijack Ing to be on the Increase. "Let there be free registration of cases or there will be suppres ston.” he commented.
Conclusion
While a number of leglsla live measures guarantee legal equality to women, tn practice however, hardly any opportuni ties are provided for women to learn their new roles. They are In a way tied down by Inse curlty of movement Attempts to legislate, reform and en force laws have tended to build on the assumption that society Is against such phenomena, so law enforcement would reduce or delegHimise them The state Initiatives were accordingly directed towards making Its executive functionaries more sensitive, Judiciary more receptive and the law, in words, less sexist This may create an illusion of progress or Improvement, but It has not empowered women to halt the Increasing violence and de structlon in their Ilves We need to know what the concerned authorities have done to transform their gender construction Has It changed its formal and legal norms for posscsstonal right of men over women, which denigrate and limit women as sub-human objects? Has It effectively delegitimised processes which are in agreement with the ad vocacy and Interests of the rul Ing class and gender -oriented social structure, and made substantive policies for the de velopment and liberation of women so that they can move about freely and securely?
Women Involved In the 11b eratlon movement have In creaslngly realised that the phenomenon of violence against women will not be challenged without a struggle to end the subordination of women, to transform unequal social relations based on oppression and exploitation. We need a radical transformation In the organisation of not only the economy, but definitely a radical change In the structure of security and disciplinary rules If a society Is Judged by the treatment and safety of Its women, we are a sad and unforgivable failure