Women's Silent Struggle Against the Dark Side of Public Transport.

 

Women’s Silent Struggle Against the Dark Side of Public Transport

Name: Fariha Mahjebin ID:24146045

Name: Sabrina Alam Lima ID:24146059

There are hardly any women to find around the world who didn’t face any harassment or abuse in public transport. But why are we introducing it as a silent struggle? Because most of the women remain silent in that situation and they don’t have the courage to protest against the culprits. In some situations, we see that not only the victim but also the people around the victim in that transport remain silent and do not support the victim. In Spite of being supported by the people, the victim is bullied by them.

A few days ago, I experienced such a situation on a public bus. Me and one of my friends were going towards our university on a crowded bus. Luckily we got seats but we noticed that one teenage school girl who didn’t get a seat was traveling by standing on that bus. One mid aged man was also standing after the girl who was frequently touching that girl. The girl understood that uncomfortable situation and tried to move away from that man. However, that girl failed to protect herself from that unwanted touch. After that the girl told the man to move away from her. Despite moving, the man shouted at the girl saying that as you are using public transport you can be touched accidentally by anyone. Also , he mentioned that if she is not used to this type of situation she must use her own transport. As a result, the girl became silent. After noticing the whole situation, my friend and I shouted at that man saying that he was touching that girl intentionally not by accident and though he had the option to move away a little bit from that girl, he didn’t do that. Hearing this, the man didn’t confess his guilt and shouted to us. Moreover, the people around us didn’t stand by us and blamed us saying that if that girl can remain silent why are we bothering about that situation? After experiencing the whole situation, we understood that no woman is safe in any public places and has to fight against the whole situation silently. Though they don’t get any support from anyone who can help them by protesting the situation. And those culprits never get any punishment. As a result these culprits don't bother about the punishment and continuously commit this crime . Consequently, these incidents of harassment are increasing day by day all over the world, especially in our country. This is really heartbroken for us as this same incident can also occur with us any day just like the bus incident that we experienced that day. In that way, we girls are really helpless with that matter.

We women can't always stay at our home to get rid of these kinds of harassment. As we have to go out regularly for our study, job, medical purposes, buying necessities etc. Those women who have no personal transport, they are bound to public transports. Since, no women are not safe outside their home, then who are mainly responsible for their unsafe environment? I firmly believe that as well as the harasser, there are mass people who don’t take any actions according to the law against the harassers. Moreover, some people blame the victims for raising their voice and also they put their finger on the character of the girl. Furthermore, it has become a very light problem in fact some people don't count it as an issue in our society. There is a permanent thought in our society that there is no way but a girl must face this kind of situation. So, a girl is being taught from their childhood that it is better to remain silent rather than raising their voices.

Besides, in my opinion, victim blaming is another issue for which these sorrowful situations can't be removed from our society. For instance, when a girl is being harassed people questioned about her dresses rather than consoling her. They taunt the girl by saying that why don't you cover yourself in a proper way. Sometimes, they also advise that girl to leave her job or study and stay at home. Hence, the girl feels guilty by thinking that she herself is responsible for that situation.

So, how can we women get rid of this situation? In my opinion, when a girl is being harassed in any public place, then if the mass people around the girl come forward to protect her and take actions against the culprit rather than bullying that girl, these situations can be controlled in a proper way. In that case, the criminals will think twice before harassing any girl by being afraid of the consequences. Moreover ,a safe place should be given to women in public transports to mitigate this problem. Finally, people around us can give all women a safe environment where they can go outside their home freely without any fear.