Press Release
The deadly consequences of sexual bullying in Bangladesh highlights the vital necessity of an Islamic leadership that sincerely cares for the dignity of women

London, UK, 20^th December, 2010 - According to the Bangladeshi Human Rights Organization Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), 28 women and girls committed suicide this year in the country and another 7 attempted to take their life to escape repeated sexual bullying. A father also committed suicide due to the indignity he suffered resulting from the sexual harassment of his daughter. Repeated sexual bullying of girls and women in Bangladesh or "eve-teasing" as it is known locally is rife in Bangladesh and escalating in prevalence and severity. It involves boys or men on the streets, at schools, or workplaces repeatedly abusing girls or women, verbally or physically in a sexual manner. According to the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, almost 90% of girls aged 10-18 have experienced "eve-teasing". Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid admitted that at present female students and female teachers are not safe on the streets or in schools. Consequently, many girls leave school due to the humiliation resulting from daily harassment or are prevented from attending by parents fearful that their daughters may become victims of the abuse. ASK have received 61 complaints this year alone of girls who have dropped out of school due to sexual bullying. Other girls or women unable to bear the repeated abuse and indignity of indecent assault and unable to get the appropriate help from law and enforcement agencies to bring an end to their ordeal, commit suicide. Perpetrators often go unpunished and there is little recourse for victims.

The government of Bangladesh has yet to enact any law against the sexual harassment of girls and women. It was left to the High court to issue a ban on the practice in May 2009 due the governing system's legislative vacuum on the matter. Until then, sexual bullying was not even considered a criminal act. The country is no stranger to the sexual abuse and exploitation of women. Prostitution is legal, there are around 18 registered red-light areas, and now it is estimated that there are around 200,000 prostitutes in the country - the majority driven into the act through desperate poverty. The country is also a major source for trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation to South Asia and other countries

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz, Women's Media Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain commented, "These tragic deaths are the consequence of the utter failure of successive secular governments of Bangladesh to take with seriousness the protection of women's dignity, safety, and wellbeing. They have approached with triviality the responsibility of guarding the honor of women, failing to recognize the gravity of this matter that demands nothing less than the utmost attention from any worthy leadership. On one hand, these governments have left unchallenged the non-Islamic traditional attitudes that view women as being low in status - a causal factor to any abuse. On the other hand, they have actively degraded the position of women within society through accepting the legalization of prostitution. What dominant view of the woman do they expect to create when they accept the right of thousands of women to be exploited as sexual  objects for the self-gratification of men? No government can claim any iota of success in leadership while tens of thousands of its women have to resort desperately to selling their bodies in order to feed themselves and their children."

"Furthermore, they have encouraged the free influx of Western liberal values through entertainment, advertising, and its secular education system - values that sanctify sexual freedom and promote the mindset amongst men that they are free to view and treat women as they wish."

"How many more young lives will be lost in this way while the Bangladesh government sits idly by? Defiling a woman's dignity is not a matter to be taken lightly. It is the basic right of any woman to be educated, work, and travel free from harassment or abuse. Successive governments have betrayed this right by placing its protection low in their scale of priorities. Any government that does not recognize the dignity that a woman deserves does not deserve to lead its people."

"This abhorrent social pandemic is preventable but it requires a governing system that places the protection of women's honor on the level of protecting life itself. This is the ethos of the Islamic Khilafah "Caliphate" state. It is a system that has a zero tolerance approach to any form of sexual harassment, abuse, or violence towards women, be it verbal or physical. It considers any sexual taunt or slur on the character of a woman - no matter how slight in nature - a grave crime deserving of harsh punishment. It is a system that will seek to eradicate negative traditional attitudes towards women, nurturing in its place the Islamic view of the woman as an equal citizen in society whose social standing should be one of elevated respect, enabling them to study, travel and work free from harassment or fear. It will prohibit any form of sexual exploitation of women and promote through its education system and media the Islamic mindset of accountability in the manner by which women should be viewed and treated. It is a state that truly embodies the concept of guardianship of its citizens, a protector that removes the helplessness of those who are wronged or oppressed and champions their cause."

Hizb ut Tahrir Britain