BD Correspondent:
When she was in her twenties, Musfika Laiju was a student at Jahangirnagar University. She says she became a victim of sexual harassment during her time at the university.
The pressure was so intense that she had to leave.
Now, three decades later, the #MeToo movement has inspired her to come forward with her story.
Alongside eight other women, Laiju joined a demonstration in Dhaka on Sunday to call for the unmasking of sexual harassers.
She says that telling her story has lightened the burden she has carried with her all these years.
Laiju, who works as a women’s rights advocate, wrote in a Facebook post that she had been sexually harassed by a Jahangirnagar professor and playwright.
“Thirty-one years later I can hold my head high and speak of my troubles. I can speak of my trauma. That is why I am here today.”Laiju explained that she was speaking about the incident even after her harasser’s death so that no woman ever has to face such a situation and so that an environment can be created for young women facing such difficulties to come forward with their stories.
“I want to stand by all women who have experienced such harassment,” Laiju said.
“When I came forward it wasn’t in a planned way. I didn’t even consult my partner. I thought that after 31 years I have changed and that I can be vocal about this even if no-one else stands by me. It would be wrong to carry this pain to my death.”
“If a 50-year-old woman, who is me, can say it, then younger women can also come forward with their experiences of violence and harassment.”
Laiju described those Bangladeshi women who came forward with their stories as ‘brave’. She joined the other protesters in calling for women to reveal the identities of their harassers.Women from various walks of life took part in the demonstration in front of the National Press Club.
Dhaka University Department of Mass Communication and Journalism Prof Dr Gitiara Nasreen said that while women are the principal victims of harassment, it is important to remember that men are also victims of sexual violence.
“The violence faced by women is like an iceberg. Only a small portion of an iceberg floats above water. The majority of it lurks underneath. Such icebergs can sink the most titanic ships. Such is the case with violence. Our society is extremely violent.”
Only a few men and women joined the #MeToo campaign, everyone is aware of this violence, she said.
“Even people in our homes enact violence on the streets against people with less power. #MeToo is the start of a conversation. It breaks the silence on the things we kept hidden for so long and brings them to the fore.”Nasreen also spoke of the benefits the movement had brought.
“The positive thing is that now harassers are more scared than they were before, even if it is just a little. The stronger this movement becomes the more our girls will learn, the more our boys will learn, that we can speak out about the violence done to us and that those who commit such violence will be afraid.”
Rights activist Khushi Kabir said: “Those women who are coming forward aren’t just telling their stories. They are exposing the faces, the characters and the identities of their harassers. I am grateful to these women.”
“We know some of the people the movement has named. They believe that because they are labelled as progressive they can harass women who are defenceless. But now those women are opening up. There aren’t only nine women in the MeToo movement, more will come forward and expose their harassers.”
“We will not blame the victims who have suffered due to harassment. We want to expose the true faces of the harassers. This is the true goal of MeToo.”Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra President Nasimun Ara Hoq said: “We salute those women who have come forward with their stories during the MeToo movement. They are brave. I do not yet have their courage. I have faced various forms of harassment since I was three years old. There is no woman who has not faced this harassment.”
Hoq called for an end to violence, assault and harassment of women.
“More will come forward in the future. We are calling for the authorities of the offices where these harassers work to take action.”
Journalist Shahnaz Sharmeen, Sharmin Rinvi, Udisa Islam, Shukur Ali Shuvo, Sheikh Mamun, Nadia Sharmin and many others attended the demonstration.
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