She was 24 years old when her view of the society she lived in changed forever. It was in the fourth year at one of Bangladesh’s most prestigious universities, in a conversation with a fellow student. The young woman is said to have been called in for a discussion about her grades, alone in the teacher’s office. “What would you do to make it better?” “How far would you go?” Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news This was not a conversation about academic progress. It was a challenge to sexual services, believes “Amelia”, whom news has spoken to in Norway. She still had no idea how big the problem was, and how far she had to go to find peace. Not just a teacher March 8 is International Women’s Day. news uses this opportunity to highlight women’s fight for equality, both in Norway and elsewhere in the world. For many years, the UN’s organization for women and equality has worked targeted to overcome sexual harassment at universities in Bangladesh. A study published last year about the large university in Dhaka shows that far more than half of the female students have been exposed to it. Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Similar figures are registered at a number of large universities in Bangladesh, according to a national university inspectorate. “Amelia” did not know of any harassment culture where she studied. For more than three years, she had thrived at the faculty, and got good results in her exams. Several students from here are said to have later obtained top jobs in international companies, and the reputation one had as a student she herself considered extremely important. That time it was a matter of course that she contacted several people in the same class, to find out if it could be true. Today, she sees this as “naive”. The stories that emerged were not about a teacher. They named several faculty members and employees at the university, and described serious abuses of power. The women describe everything from inappropriate comments and text messages to being touched without consent. Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news In an anonymous survey that was distributed among the students, a woman describes this experience: – I was alone with him in his room for an hour, for an interview about a kind of part-time position that the university offered students. – Throughout the conversation he hinted at sex. I felt very uncomfortable, but told myself that he probably didn’t mean it. Stayed silent None of the women wanted to come forward, but they talked among themselves in a closed Facebook group. “Amelia” wanted change, and helped gather information. The group consulted with lawyers to get a rule change at the university. – Some of those involved were my favorite teachers. After I asked the question, they called me and said: “Shut up. Do not proceed with this.” – They started several smear campaigns against me. One of the teachers laughed and said to one of the other classes: “Do you know about the rubbish that talks about harassment at our university? She doesn’t know what she has set herself up for.” Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Then the management demanded to meet them personally, each one who had come with the debts. “Amelia” saw no other alternative than to withdraw. A lot was at stake, she believes. The lease threatened her security, reputation, living conditions and career opportunities. – I felt suffocated and forced into a corner, she says bitterly. – You cannot enter that battlefield without armor and use your innocence as a shield. Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Others can get help from the global research network “Amelia” says she was able to complete her studies and start work at an organisation. There, too, she was contacted by the university management. They promised to ensure that she was fired, according to her. – I was exhausted, and struggling with suicidal thoughts. – I came to Norway to escape to another reality, and continued to study. She is fascinated by how safe women seem to feel when they walk alone at night in Norwegian cities. That women in Norway demonstrate, even if they can be arrested. – A night in solitary confinement is nothing more, here. But I know what a night in solitary confinement had meant for me in Bangladesh. Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news She did not know when she traveled here alone, that she could get help from a global research network. Scholars at Risk is represented at 600 institutions in 42 countries, including Norway, and has previously helped students from Bangladesh in similar situations as “Amelia” was in. She herself has recently shared her story with the organization’s contact at the University of Oslo, so that others like her will get the support they need. How does Scholars at Risk work? Scholars at Risk does its best to help researchers and students in three ways, according to UiO contact Marit Egner. These are to: try to strengthen knowledge about academic freedom in countries where this value is threatened, write letters or run campaigns to free imprisoned researchers, somewhat like Amnesty International works, and help threatened persons to get out of the country they are in i, if they are threatened on the basis of their academic work. The latter can, for example, be by getting the person an equivalent academic job at a university in, for example, Asia, the USA or Europe. – Just getting a large international network and getting away from the situation is a protection in itself. Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news HRW has confirmed 86 disappearances “Amelia” knows that the threats she has received are real. She knows someone who has been kidnapped just for talking to the wrong person at the wrong party. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has become aware of more than 500 cases of disappearance through human rights groups in Bangladesh between 2009 and 2021. They have managed to verify 86 of them. The people who have resurfaced have told of torture and grim conditions, says South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly to news. – From what we know, they have been in illegal prisons, and often underground. One of our sources told the family that it was “a place where the sun doesn’t come”. – In two or three cases they were released, just abandoned in a ditch, without knowing where they were and in poor health. Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Ganguly is nevertheless clear that female activists who work for freedom and human rights are subjected to equal treatment. – We are very worried about the coming year, when the campaigns for the parliamentary elections will be stepped up, says Ganguly. – Politics in Bangladesh has always been violent, and now that the authorities do not seem to want to create space for proper political campaigns and a fair election process, the likelihood of violence is increasing. “We need a giant” In the future, “Amelia” wants to get a job in Bangladesh, and one day start her own family. – I cannot afford to start again somewhere else. One day I have to go back. Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news Photo: Jon P Petrusson / news The guilt that she could not help her fellow students is always present. – They thought I could do something because I was the star of the movement. I want people to get a foothold in what I did wrong. – WE need a giant, because giants can stand on the shoulders of small people. I am one of the little people. Right now the giants are sleeping, but I want them to wake up. news knows “Amelia’s” identity, but has chosen to anonymize her due to threats against her and her family in Bangladesh.
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