Sexual Harassment of University Students in Bangladesh A Case on Dhaka University

Abstract

This study achieves two-fold objectives: (1) finding the rates of sexual harassment (SH) in higher education (i.e., in universities) of Bangladesh and (2) exploring the fears of female students to report (SH) in Bangladesh. A survey was conducted online with 210 female Dhaka University students. Moreover, 17 in-depth interviews (IDIs) with victims of SH were conducted. The study found that the rate of SH in higher education was very high, with the rate of verbal SH (60%) being higher than the rate of non-verbal SH (51.4 %). The majority of victims were subjected to verbal or nonverbal sexual harassment by male students, strangers, or university faculty. Eighty-nine percent of victims did not report against perpetrators to any legal authority. Dread of academic difficulties, shame, distrust of legal processes, and, most crucially, fear of social stigma were the reasons for remaining silent. The prevalence of SH in Bangladesh's higher education would increase due to the culture of silence regarding SH.