The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs must urgently review and amend the information it provides on gender-related issues via their Tottho Apa project.
A recent review notes that the project’s website, which is intended to provide easily accessible information to girls and young people, is littered with false information and errors.
It is shocking that a government website contains articles on dowry and child marriage, without mentioning that they are illegal and punishable offences. It is especially concerning that the website’s knowledge bank section contains articles and materials suggesting that female victims bear responsibility for inciting attacks on them by male perpetrators.
Such mistaken and misogynistic ideas which blame victims, have no place in a civilised society.
However it is intended, even the use of the term “eve-teasing” to describe sexual harassment, is an affront to women, and provides encouragement to perpetrators. It is clear the website needs to remove offensive content that blames harassment on factors such as “vulgarity of ultra-modern girls,” or “lack of enforcement of religious norms.”
The wider problem that this website shows is that Bangladesh has a pressing need to improve education on sex and relationships. As parents commonly avoid talking with their children about sex and relationships, adolescents often fail to receive accurate knowledge about sex and social attitudes are prey to harmful taboos.
It is the government’s duty to improve public education on sex and relationship matters to help change attitudes which encourage perpetrators to belittle and degrade women.
Everyone will benefit by breaking the silence.
