Paper short abstract:

The paper explores Jahangirnagar University students' mobilization and struggle for implementation of the anti-sexual harassment policy in Bangladesh. It analyses the movement's strategies to counter stigmatization of activists and masculinized political norms to transform to a national movement.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores how the Jahangirnagar University students mobilised for a sexual harassment policy in educational institutes since the 1990s, and how the struggle for effective implementation of the guidelines still continues. Based on ongoing research, the paper analyses the current strategies of Chatro Union (left student wing of JU) to keep the movement alive with changing mediums of activism, in response to COVID 19.

Female students of JU decided to speak openly about sexual harassment for the first time in public in the 1990s, and protested against perpetrators at the university. The movement witnessed multiple turning points over the years and strategized to expand their reach involving other student organisations, left wing parties, students and teachers. Incidents at JU ignited the anti-sexual harassment movement at other universities, ultimately resulting in the High Court Directives in 2009 against sexual harassment. Though the HC Directive was to be treated strictly as law and followed with immediate effect; there has been negligible progress in the implementation. Most of the universities do not have a written policy on sexual harassment; and students and staff are unaware about what constitutes sexual harassment. In Bangladesh’s “masculinised political culture”, sexually harassed students hesitate to file complaints for fear of stigmatisation and criticism, and for the possibility of not getting any redress due to the politically influential role of the alleged offender. The paper explores the resistances faced by the anti-sexual harassment movement and how its seeking to position itself and create alliances to overcome this opposition.