What men think!

When Delhi's streets were flooded with protests of rape, a reporter of The Guardian, a UK based newspaper, talking to random men in Goa, which brought out disturbing mindset of India men towards women. Alarming viewpoints such as men has right to rape 'sexy' women and woman should not come out in the evening even came up in that informal discussion.
Across the border, in Bangladesh, a 2011 study carried out by ICDDR,B and funded by UNFPA, titled “Men's Attitudes and practices regarding Gender and Violence against women in Bangladesh” brought out and equally worrisome picture.
The study was carried out on 1254 men in an urban site and 1146 men in a rural site, with the majority of the sampled men were married men between the ages of 18 -49. The majority of the men (57 percent of the urban men and 80 percent of rural men interviewed) did not complete secondary education.
To understand their concept regarding gender and gender equality, men were asked to agree or disagree on a scale of five to statements on women's role in the home, responsibility for pregnancy, men's reputation and so on. Interestingly, the pattern of gender attitude was similar in both rural and urban site. It was seen that among Bangladeshi men, masculinity is linked to toughness, honour, sexual prowess and dominance, all of which promote violence against women and girls. Sexual violence was found to be rooted in the ideologies of male sexual entitlement. The majority of men surveyed believed that 'women cannot refuse sex with their husbands, that 'men need sex more than women do' and that 'women who have been raped are in part to blame.'
Factors such as education, socio-economic status and experience of childhood abuse influenced men's perception of gender equitability. In fact, men's experience of abuse and violence during childhood increased the likelihood of perpetrating intimate partner violence. Similarly, men with secondary and higher education are half as likely to perpetrate physical or sexual violence against an intimate partner. In urban areas, work related stress was another factor associated with violence perpetration. On the other hand dowry demand in marriage in rural areas was one of the main causes of violence against women.
Impunity enjoyed by sex crime perpetrators was highlighted in the report as majority of the men who committed the crime did not experience legal consequence or worry about possible repercussion. Less than 10 percent of men who had raped a woman faced any legal consequences for their actions.
Disturbingly, sex offenders seem to start off at a very early age. The report revealed that nearly half of all men who reported using sexual violence first forced a woman into sex when they were below the age of nineteen. Also men who experienced abuse as children are significantly more likely to perpetrate violence against women in later life. The study also suggests the need for programmes and policy steps required to address these concerns and thus prevent violence against women.

THE WRITER IS REPORTER, THE DAILY STAR.