The New Nation - Internet Edition

Snigdha Madhuri

After a long affair, Hena Islam married her finance, Sohel, barely six months ago. They were having a great time indeed. All on a sudden, a trouble broke out in their paradise. The reason: Unwanted calls on Hena's cellphone.

The problem began when Hena received a call on her cellphone. A young man from the other end was uttering filthy words. Hena (not her real name) hanged up. But the phone kept ringing.

The unwanted calls made Hena"s hubby suspicious. Sohel started asking her so many questions. Hena couldn't take it. She became mentally ill.

Let's see what happened to Jhinuk (name changed to protect privacy), a student of Dhaka University's Mass Communication and Journalism department. She was preparing to conduct a cultural programme of her department. Then came a call on her cellphone. A perverted man came up with an ugly proposal. Jhinuk started shivering out of anger. She ultimately could not conduct the function.

"The man offered me money for going to his residence. You undermined what did he mean," says a dejected Jhinuk. "'The filthy offer made me sick. I just .couldn't believe what I was hearing. For the next few days I was thinking why he gave me the proposal and what my fault was. Since then, I get scared when I see unknown numbers on my phone."

Dr Israt Jahan Bithi, a psychologist of Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma Victims, says, "Harassment over cellphones has now become a social problem. It might have a long-term influence on one's psychology."

She says continuous harassment not only causes annoyance, but also invites troubles in a conjugal life. Members of the family blame a girl for the harassment, which casts a negative impact on one's mind. Mobile operators must take measures against harassment over cellphones.

Dr Mahmudur Rahman, head of the department of psychology at Dhaka University, says, "Filthy words and ugly comments over cellphones create mental pressure on a person for which she can later even decide to commit suicide. The cellphone operators need to pay attention to this serious issue and must take necessary measures sooner than later."

He says not only the operators, things like family education and values can also-play an important role in resolving the issue of harassment over phone. If the family teaches a boy how to respect a girl the extent of the problem will certainly lessen.

Talking about harassment-related laws, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) Deputy Director and a Supreme Court Lawyer Farila Yasmin says, "Section 509 of the Penal Code of 1860 states, a person may be sentenced to one year imprisonment or fined or be punished it he or be makes any offensive comments or undignified gesture or shows any object that can harm a woman's dignity. There are some other laws, too."

She says the Metropolitan Police Ordinance also deals with this issue. But, the process of substantiating any complaint is very much hard and complicated under the ordinance. Besides, women find themselves in an embarrassing situation when they go to complain. So, they prefer letting it go.

Considering harassment as a sexual repression, Section 10(2) of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000 says if a man sexually assaults or makes indecent gesture for meeting his sexual desire it will be considered as sexual harassment. The person is liable for up to 7 years' imprisonment and fine. In 2003, some amendments were brought to the law to check its misuse and filing of false cases under it. As a result, the definition of harassment has changed and the limit of punishment got reduced.

Women leaders and lawyers do not endorse the changes made to the law. They argue justice to eve-teasing victims has been denied permanently due to these changes and this is very unfortunate and shameful. They think it is very important indeed to include eve-teasing in the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act for preventing harassment over cellphones.

Experts are of the option that mobile phone operators should take more responsibilities in this regard. "It's necessary to take legal measures against harassment under mobile phone operators' own rules and regulations. It can't be that cellphone companies will do business without taking responsibilities," says lawyer Farida Yasmin.

Mobile phone operators acknowledge harassment of women over phones, but they say there is hardly anything they can do legally. Above all, they need to look after their own business.

"We too acknowledge that harassment over cellphone is a problem. We receive complaints every now and then. Legally, we can't do much. We can only caution the accused subscriber. But, we're ready to cooperate with the raw-enforcing agencies," says Syed Yamin Bakht, General Manager (information) of GrameenPhone. A senior official of a mobile phone company, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says, "It's our business. We can't disconnect subscribers' phones harming our own business interests. Actually, harassing someone is a question of one's moral values.

What can we do? Had there been any provision of punishment in the law, harassment would have decreased."

Deputy Director of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) Mir Mohammad Morshed says, "Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has been set up for development of telecommunications, improvement of services provided by different companies and regulating the industry. It's the responsibility of BTRC to look into the subscribers' problems." A senior BTRC official, requesting anonymity, says every mobile phone company and subscriber is bound to abide by every section of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Act, 2001 that gives the BTRC the responsibility to address the problems, including harassment, facing by the subscribers.

Another senior BTRC official, who also wishes not to be named, says, "There is a separate cell at the Commission to receive complaints from subscribers and investigate them. To take any legal action, firstly a subscriber has to file a GD (general diary) with a police station. Later, if the allegation is proved, the BTRC can either direct the concerned operator to take necessary actions or can take legal measures itself."

Md. Abdul Alim

Sabiha was brought up at her grandmother's house along with four sisters when her mother died when she was very young. Her father remarried. Due to physical torture and abuse by her stepmother, she ran away from the house and came to Dhaka where she started working as a domestic help in two houses. But she could not bear the heavy load of works. She came to street and survived by picking waste paper.She met the staff of Aparajeyo Bangladesh (AB), a NGO, which has street children's club at Arambag in the capital.

She was enrolled in the center and showed interest in her education and became an active member of the center. Due to her self-motivation and personal development, she was transferred to AB's girls' hostel.Rashida, 16, now student of Class VIII, is a talented dancer and orator. She completed a beautician course on April 2005 through the assistance of ARISE (Appropriate Resources Improving Street Children's Environment) which is a joint project of Ministry of Social Welfare and UNDP taken for ensuring the welfare of street children.Kalam has been living in a railway station for a year since his mum died.

He doesn't know how old he is. Every day he sits on the steps of the railway station hoping to earn tips from carrying people's suitcases and bags. Security guards often try to move him on.He said: "I don't feel good. The police disturb us at night. They beat us. And there's no food here. "If I'm hungry I drink water and try to go to sleep."A noteworthy film: Chena Mukh Ochena Chobi is a series of five documentaries on street children in Dhaka, focused on the unheard stories of street children -- addicted to drugs, taken to prostitution, begging, selling flowers -- and the usual tokai.

The film reveals that hundreds of street children in Karwan Bazar are engaged in substance abuse. The film explores the reasons behind their addiction, their background and their likely future, in these documentaries.A large number of children are driven to the capital city and other towns for their survival as they face immense suffering due to broken family and natural calamities and take shelters in the streets in different cities and towns, including Dhaka and Chittagong.

"It is impossible to figure out accurate number but it is assumed that about two million children are living in the streets", quoting the report of government's Arise Project 2002 and the United Nations.According to a 2002 report published by the government news agency Bangladesh Shongbad Shongsta, there were approximately 400 thousand homeless children, of whom as many as 150 thousand had no knowledge of their parents Few facilities existed for children whose parents were incarcerated.Child rights activists expressed their concern over the sexual exploitation of street children, saying that vested quarters are using them in pornographic movies.

There is an alarming rise in the victimization of street girls aged between 9 and 18 by pornographers, they said and called for combined efforts of the government and NGOs to combat it.Today's Children is tomorrow's future. It's our moral and civic duty to cherish our beloved children with congenial environment. Programmes should be designed with the active participation of the children themselves. Need to strengthen inter-ministerial coordination in government.

Income generation projects / micro-credit schemes are needed to accompany family reunification and to address rural-urban migration. Social mobilization and community awareness programmes and strong political commitment and dedicated participation of law enforcement agencies are needed. Introduction of street children issues into the curricula of training institutions (especially for social workers, educators and counselors). Create a forum for street children NGOs for both Bangladesh and South Asia for networking of good practices, exchange of information and advocacy. ---PID