Adolescent girls and young women in urban slum areas feel unsafe while bathing in open bathing spaces, according to a survey.
Lack of accessible water and infrastructural challenges cause the risk of sexual harassment and violence, says the survey.
International development organization Plan International shared the survey findings on Saturday.
S M Tariquzzaman, WASH specialist of Plan International Bangladesh, shared the survey findings at the event.
He said Plan International Bangladesh started a model project titled “Empowering Girls for Economic Opportunity and Safe Space-Egloss” in January 2022.
The organization initiated this project to establish and reform 15 bathing spaces in 4 slum areas of Dhaka: Dhalpur, Malek Member Colony, IG Gate Colony, and Match Colony.
The initiative has been implemented by Plan International Bangladesh and Population Services and Training Centre (PSTC).
Under this initiative, they have also conducted a survey in these four slum areas where 417 girls under the age range of 14-24 years took part.
Some 12 focused group discussion was also organized.
The survey was conducted by the youth-led organization BYS with the support of Plan International Bangladesh.
In the survey, 98% of respondents shared that they use open bathing spaces for taking their everyday showers.
Among these open bathing spaces, only 15% have a separate zone for girls where women commonly share the place for showers.
According to the survey, on average, per bathing space is shared by 35-45 people, the maximum user is 70 while the minimum is 20.
The respondents said during the focused group discussions that, they do not feel safe in these bathing spaces.
There are risks of taking photos from high-raised buildings around the colonies.
Around 68.6% said, they face violence at different times during using the toilet.
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There is a lack of menstrual hygiene management facilities in these places.
Around 58.7% mentioned that they have to hurry, and it often gets dark while taking shower.
Around 38.2% shared that they feel unsafe while 79.2% of respondents confirmed that they faced verbal violence while 13.4% shared that they faced sexual harassment.
Manik Kumar Saha, project manager of Plan International Bangladesh, said, there are more than 5000 urban slums in Dhaka.
There are challenges including land efficiency and sewerage lines.
Due to the lack of safe bathing spaces, people of all ages and gender have to take showers in a common place altogether, which affects their privacy and causes violence.
"We have established 15 bathing spaces in four of the slum areas of Dhaka, among them 2 are specially designed for people with special needs. We hope, girls and young women will have at least some sense of safety and protection while taking shower," he added.
He also said: “But the demand is even more. We want to reach out to the policymakers with this message to work together on addressing the challenge and solve it.”
Shiropa Kulsum of PSTC said: “The lack of safe bathing spaces impacts the lives of adolescent girls and young women. Especially during menstruation, the challenge is unimaginable. The lack of menstrual hygiene management facilities, their reproduction health becomes at risk as well. This is why we need safe bathing spaces.”
Faez Belal, Founder of BYS, said: “We often do not realize the importance of having a safe bathing space. This is very crucial to ensure safety, even mental health well being of adolescent girls and young women.”
Nishat, one of the dwellers of the community shared her real-life experience during the press briefing. She said: “This is very uncomfortable for us to bath openly. We often do not get the time to manage our hygiene properly.”.
“Plan International Bangladesh is working to improve the lives of children, adolescents, and youth, especially girls. Until 2030, we will work toward challenging the fear of violence. This initiative of safe bathing spaces is a part of this goal,” said Shemonty Monjari, campaign manager of Plan International Bangladesh.
Geo Lead of Central and Northern Region of Plan International Bangladesh, Ashik Billah said, the organization has been working to improve the lives of children and youth by reducing the root cause of the obstacles. This initiative is also a part of the activities.
