In Bangladesh, six street harassers go to jail!

In Bangladesh, six street harassers go to jail

Earlier this month, six young men in central Bangladesh were sentenced to seven days in jail for engaging in eve teasing, or street harassment, under Section 34 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This is the first time men have gone to jail for eve teasing.

A unit of the Rapid action Battalion (RAB-11) caught the accused young men harassing a group of female students from the Gono Bidyaa Niketon School, in Narayanganja District. They were arrested on the spot and tried the next day.

The police superintendent said the punishment was meant to serve as a warning to any potential wrongdoer. “It will prevent this type of crime,” he said, “which we are trying to eradicate.”

Their attention to this matter—which impacts women worldwide—has been spurred by an increase in the number of women committing suicide because of harassers. Recently, for example, 14-year-old student Umme Kulsum Elora killed herself by drinking pesticide in order to escape a 19-year-old man and his friend who had been harassing her in the streets for a year. Her family had talked to the man’s family and to school authorities but nothing changed. So she took matters into her own hands. So sad!

In Bangladesh, human and women’s rights activists welcome the prison sentence. They hope it will set a precedent and be used in future cases. They also hope it will deter street harassment from occurring. Me too.

When will police, legislators, and human rights activists in the United States pay attention to this issue? When will we have a law against street harassment?

New Book on Street Harassment Out Now!!!

Here's a post about the new book out by Holly Kearl, about street harassment! Please, send in your contributions of your own stories of street harassment to: hollabackcomo@rocketmail.com!!!



Stop Street Harassment Book Available!

The evidence is unmistakable, the numbers alarming. Over 80 percent of women experience gender-based harassment from unknown men in public, including whistling, sexually-explicit comments, groping, stalking, and assault. One study of 800 women, for example, reported that 75 percent had been followed and 57 percent sexually touched.

Street harassment is generally dismissed as harmless, but in reality, it causes women to feel unsafe in public, especially when they are alone. Until this form of harassment is eliminated, true gender equality will not be achieved. The brand new book Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for Women draws on academic studies, informal surveys, news articles, and interviews with activists around the world to explore the practice's definition and prevalence, the societal contexts in which it occurs, its global range, and the role of factors such as race and sexual orientation. Perhaps more crucially, the book makes clear how women experience street harassment—how they feel about and respond to it—and the ways it negatively impacts their lives.

In the second half of the book, female and male readers will find concrete strategies for addressing street harassment and ideas for how they can work to end this violation. Everyone has a role they can play to stop street harassment and make public places safe and welcoming for women. What will your role be?

Author Holly Kearl is a national street harassment expert, writer, and nonprofit professional based in the Washington, D.C. area. Her work has been cited by the United Nations, CNN, the Guardian, ABC News, Feministing, and Jezebel. In addition to her book, she runs the website Stop Street Harassment and the companion blog where people from around the world submit their street harassment stories. Holly has written articles about street harassment for Forbes, Huffington Post, Oregonian, and AOL. She also works for AAUW and volunteers with RAINN.

• To order the book, visit Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, or Greenwood.com.
• To arrange an interview, contact Holly Kearl, hollykearl AT yahoo.com.
• Attend one of Holly’s events or contact her to arrange an author talk or book signing in your area.

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