A laudable initiative for safe journeys

We appreciate the authorities for taking the initiative to install CCTV cameras in public buses, which has been a long-standing demand of women passengers and organisations working on women's rights. Reportedly, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, with funding from Dipto Foundation, has initially installed cameras in 100 public buses of four companies in Dhaka. According to the government, if this helps improve the security of female passengers, the entire public transport system could be gradually brought under the initiative. While we appreciate the move, we think this is just one of the many measures that need to be taken to stop harassment of women on public transport.

Installing CCTV cameras in buses will not only help in identifying culprits harassing women, but will also give women passengers the courage to protest such incidents and go to the police for help.

Unfortunately, while women have long endured all forms of sexual harassment and violence on public buses, including rape and even gang-rape, little has been done to address the issue. The only initiative that the government took, apart from reserving nine seats for women, is to introduce a small number of women-only buses in Dhaka, which are too few compared to the number of women and girls who use buses to commute every day.

Over the last few years, several studies and surveys have been conducted to understand the gravity of the issue. The situation seems to have become progressively worse. The most recent survey report on this, published in late August, found that 87 percent of the women surveyed faced some form of harassment at least once in their lives, while 36 percent faced sexual harassment regularly in buses, launches, trains and at terminals. What is particularly worrying is the revelation that only 36 percent among those harassed protested after being harassed, while only one percent went to the law enforcers for support.

Under such circumstances, we think installing CCTV cameras in buses will not only help in identifying culprits harassing women, but will also give women passengers the courage to protest such incidents and go to the police for help, since it will now be easier to provide evidence of the harassment. However, in addition to installing CCTV cameras and establishing a reliable monitoring system to track such crimes, there needs to be vehicle tracking systems in all public transports as well, as advised by experts.

Furthermore, often women are harassed not only by other male passengers but by the bus drivers and helpers themselves. Research has found that 83 percent of women received abusive and misogynistic comments from transport staff, which makes the problem harder to address. To address this, the authorities need to undertake special programmes to educate bus drivers and helpers on gender issues. Campaigns on women's rights and safety must be carried out continuously if we really want to bring a change. Overall, the formation of a gender-responsive guideline for our entire transport sector is a must to effectively address the issue.