Is Public Transport In Bangladesh Truly Safe For Women?

Is Public Transport In Bangladesh Truly Safe For Women?

                                                                                     
                                                                                    - Mahmud Shanjeed Hussain Navil




A resounding 94% of women have faced harassment in one form or another in public transports in Bangladesh, be it verbal, physical or even sexual in nature. It is no longer a viable option for young women who want a cheaper method of commute, as it is a literal nightmare for them to always have the looming threat of being taken advantage of over their heads.


There have been many movements and activisms to ensure women's rights and equality of all gender, but in Bangladesh the progression towards women's right have been slow if taking place at all. Most of the forward achievements towards the safety of women in Bangladesh have taken place in work places and in public venues but this safety, in fact, is never discussed when talking about public transports. How can women get to these venues or to perform their daily tasks and agendas when they cannot even travel without the fear of harassment? It is a great predicament in our nation that is hampering the potential of a huge margin of our population.


Another issue is the fact that many of the public transport systems are run by men themselves, from the humble rickshaw puller to the entire BRTC bus enterprise are all run and worked by men. In a survey it was found that a staggering 23% of women in Dhaka avoid public transport all together due to fear. This is a root issue that plagues our society "fear". Fear is a tool used by these men's club to oppress and subjugate women and their empowerment. Until this "men's club" of power house corporations are not toppled, we will not see any real change.



The abuse of a woman and her vulnerability can be easily seen in some cases, there are many forms of harassments that could happen on nay public transport, such as a rickshaw puller shouting at a female passenger or even the physical harassment of a female passenger on a bus. It is important to be wary that not all harassment have to be sexual in nature. However, that said sexual harassment on buses are also fairly common, in January 2023 the Dhaka Metropolitan Police department arrested a bus driver and his helper after an allegation of sexual assault on a female university student.



In Bangladesh there are three main methods of public transportation that are used on a regular day to day basis by the mass margin of people. They are rickshaws which are man powered vehicles used to transverse over short distances, CNG (auto-rickshaws) which are now motor based rickshaws that are used to travel further and quicker and lastly buses which are mainly used to go to a different city. They all each have their own varying cons, rickshaw pullers are generally uneducated and had an inadequate up brining in regards to treating women with respect, CNG companies do not do a thorough investigation on the driver they lease the vehicles to and so many suspicious people may sneak into the system, lastly buses in Bangladesh are crowded and always very packed with many different kinds of people as such it would be very easy to harass a female passenger in this scenario.

To sum it all up, we need to open the conversation of women empowerment and their safety in public transports. We also need to find a way to stop the diarchy of men using fear as a tool of control and manipulation and we need to look at the core issues of harassments in each sector of transport individually. Only then can we strive for a world where women are equally as safe as men.