FEATURE

Contextualising sexual harassment of adolescent girls in Bangladesh

Papreen Nahar,a Miranda van Reeuwijk,b Ria Reisc
a Post-doctoral Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK, and Research
Associate, Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.
Correspondence: [email protected]
b Senior Researcher, Rutgers WPF, Utrecht, The Netherlands
c Professor, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Centre; and Associate Professor,
Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract: Violence against women is a social mechanism confirming women’s subordination in many
societies. Sexual violence and harassment have various negative psychological impacts on girls, including
a persistent feeling of insecurity and loss of self-esteem. This article aims to contextualize a particular
form of sexual harassment, namely “eve teasing”, experienced by Bangladeshi adolescent girls (12–18 years)
which emerged from a study of adolescent sexual behaviour carried out by young people. The study
used qualitative methods and a participatory approach, including focus group discussions, key informant
interviews and observation. Despite taboos, unmarried adolescents actively seek information about sex,
erotic pleasure and romance. Information was easily available from videos, mobile phone clips and
pornographic magazines, but reinforced gender inequality. “Eve teasing” was one outlet for boys’ sexual
feelings; they gained pleasure from it and could show their masculinity. The girls disliked it and were
afraid of being blamed for provoking it. Thus, “eve teasing” is a result of socio-cultural norms relating
to sexuality, as well as a lack of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services in
Bangladesh. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive sexuality education that goes
beyond a mere health focus and addresses gender norms and helps youth to gain social-sexual
interaction skills. © 2013 Reproductive Health Matters

Keywords: adolescents, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexuality education, Bangladesh

In 2009 a team of four Bangladeshi boys and In South Asian popular culture “eve teasing”
four Bangladeshi girls (17–23 years old) were has been represented as a medium of commu-
trained as co-researchers to collect data among ado- nication between men and women. In Hindi films,
lescents on their experiences, needs and concerns for example, the villain or other hero is involved
in relation to their sexuality and how these realities in the flirtatious beginnings of a courtship2 and
(mis-)matched their access to sexuality information moderate sexual harassment is often treated
and sexual and reproductive health services. as being fun and romantic.3 This is particularly
The focus group discussions and interviews problematic because of the role of Hindi films –
revealed that among the key concerns most the most popular entertainment for young people
mentioned by the adolescent girls was the expe- in the entire Indian sub-continent – in shaping
rience of sexual harassment in public places, social learning, particularly for boys regarding
commonly named and culturally constructed as their interaction with girls.
“eve teasing”, originally an Indian-English term. The term “eve-teasing” does not capture the
The term is widely used in South Asia to describe seriousness of the range of behaviours it denotes,
the public bullying of girls and women by boys however. Baxi2 describes it as a mechanism of
and men, where boys intercept girls on public normalizing violence against women that suggests
transport, the street and at workplaces and shout that women are both a tease and deserve to be
obscenities at them, laugh at them, force them to teased. The Indian women’s movement was the
talk, verbally abuse them, threaten them with first to challenge this cultural perception by cate-
abduction, and even touch them inappropriately.1 gorizing it unambiguously as sexual harassment.

78 Contents online: www.rhm-elsevier.com Doi: 10.1016/S0968-8080(13)41696-8

 P Nahar et al. Reproductive Health Matters 2013;21(41):78–86

Historically, “eve teasing” was first documented 28 girls/women committed suicide in Bangladesh,
by Indian women at the beginning of the post- and another seven attempted suicide, in order to
colonial period, when they started joining the escape frequent sexual harassment.4 As many as
public sphere for employment and socializing.2 90% of Bangladeshi girls aged 10–18 years are
In Bangladesh the practice probably followed thought to have experienced “eve teasing”.14,17
similar dynamics since 1980, with free girls’ edu- This article focuses on how adolescent girls in
cation, women’s participation in the garment Bangladesh (12–18 years) experience “eve teasing”
industry and in the NGO innovation workforce, and what meanings they attach to it, and ado-
e.g. in health, education and other development lescent boys’ views on and explanations for “eve
activities.4 Whereas girls’ education is reported teasing” girls. We will argue that “eve teasing”
to correlate with improvements in health out- derives from harmful sociocultural norms relating
comes and with women’s overall empowerment to sexuality and gender. We will look into what
and mobility, certain types of gender discrimina- the data and insights mean for the promotion of
tion have persisted, such as unequal pay, early adolescent sexual and reproductive health and
forced marriage and gender-based violence.5,6 rights in Bangladesh, in terms of sexuality educa-
Mobility of women and girls is much more tion, service provision, and social change.
common today; nonetheless, only 49% of older
women and 38% of younger women feel safe
going out within their own neighborhood.5 In fact, Methodology
“eve teasing” of girls walking to school or using The co-researchers were selected from a group of
public transport is considered to be one of the peer educators active as volunteers for the youth
major causes of dropout from school and also programme of the Family Planning Association of
of early marriage of girls in Bangladesh.7 Bangladesh (FPAB) to become co-researchers in a
In the mid-1990s, the feminist movement participatory research project entitled “Do They
achieved a new law in India related to sexual Match?”.18 They collected data on adolescents’
harassment that included “eve teasing”.8,9 Since experiences, needs and concerns in relation to
2010, “eve teasing” has also been a crime in their sexuality and whether their access to sexuality
Bangladesh and subject to punishment by the information and services met their needs. The
Bangladesh state authority. The incidence increased research was carried out through a youth pro-
so rapidly that the government decided to employ gramme run by FPAB in Jessore, a city in the
mobile courts to prosecute people accused of northwest of Bangladesh. The young researchers
sexually harassing women. Anyone convicted of came from four different districts where FPAB is
sexual harassment or stalking of women can face working (including Jessore) and were selected on
fines from 7000 Taka (US$70) and up to a year in the basis of their performance as peer educators
jail. The media periodically covers cases when and their letters of motivation. All were graduate
men are caught and sentenced, especially the students and unmarried. They underwent an inten-
more violent cases. Some social movements, e.g. sive two-week qualitative research skills training,
music concerts, are devoted to protest against vio- and the research plan and interview questions
lence against women, “eve teasing” in particular. were developed with them.
In this article, we abide with a definition of With the support of FPAB and the first author,
“eve teasing” that has the absence of consent at the research team collected qualitative data in
its core, thus, sexual behaviour lacking respect 28 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 237 unmar-
for the other person, which can be hurtful. Unlike ried boys and girls; 48 in-depth interviews, with
rape, “eve-teasing” belongs to a grey area of 6 health service providers, 11 adults, 15 girls
sexual violence that comprises less explicit non- and 16 boys; two panel discussions with stake-
consensual sexual behaviour or expressions that holders, consisting of community leaders, parents,
violate sexual autonomy, which may be considered school teachers, health clinic personnel and staff
“normal” under dominant sociocultural norms.10 members of the Family Planning Association of
Local news media say that “eve teasing” is on Bangladesh; and observations at a youth-friendly
the rise in Bangladesh and links are made between service centre, two street locations where street
it and other forms of sexual harassment and vio- canvassers were selling traditional medicines for
lence and their consequences, such as abduction, sexuality problems, two public parks and two
acid burning, murder and suicide.5,11–16 In 2010, cyber cafes that adolescents indicated were dating

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places. Adolescent informants (12–18 years) were findings up to that point, which were presented
selected from various socio-economic backgrounds to youth centre visitors to obtain their opinions
within Jessore municipality and included: urban (for more details19 ).
boys and girls from state and Islamic schools We were unable to explore sexuality issues
and colleges (Madrasa), slum dwellers, orphans, among rural illiterate young people, patterns of
adolescent sex workers, visitors to youth-friendly rural commercial sex, or views of rural parents
services and adolescents from rural areas around and rural religious leaders. Also, not enough
Jessore town. FGD’s were held with boys and girls exploration was done into the experiences of
separately divided into age groups of 12–15 years orphans and slum girls, which would have pro-
and 16–18 years. vided a more comprehensive insight into differ-
Data analysis was carried out with open and ences between these groups of young people.
axial coding. In addition, a content analysis was
done of questions raised by adolescents in the
question box of the youth centre and of sources Findings
of information on sexuality that young respondents The study reveals differential social position of
mentioned, including local music, magazines, joke boys and girls. It shows that if girls do not abide
videos, CDs, films and information downloaded by strict norms pertaining to their sexual behaviour,
onto mobile phones. Data were presented and dis- they risk strong social stigma (much more than
cussed with a panel of community stakeholders boys), reduce their chance of finding a suitable
and FPAB staff members, to gain their views, verify marital partner and risk their families having to
preliminary conclusions and formulate recommen- pay a higher dowry. This leads many girls to guard
dations for interventions. Further details on process their virginity. Social regulation of premarital sexu-
and outcomes are described in another paper from ality is imposed mainly on girls, limiting their
this study.19 Final data analysis and reporting mobility and restricting their social interaction
were done by the first author, with in-depth input with boys. It is also taboo for adults and children
from the youth research team. to discuss sexuality with each other. Gender seg-
During the training and research process the regation and the taboos surrounding sexuality
young researchers gained experience and skills make it difficult to offer sexuality education
and learned to probe more and reflect on how and services to unmarried people in Bangladesh.
they influenced the information they got from
their informants through the choice for questions
they asked, the way they asked the questions, the Seeking sexual pleasure and materials on sex
way they interpreted the information, how they Despite taboos and norms, however, unmarried
drew conclusions and selected what was written adolescents actively seek ways to find erotic
down. To reduce bias, they were asked to tran- pleasure and romance. Mostly boys but also girls
scribe their notes immediately following the talk about romance and sex with their friends,
interviews, and through debriefing and reflection older cousins and/or in-laws. Those who have
sessions after every day of data collection. These access to computers (at home or at a cyber cafe),
sessions also served to discuss how the data look for information and pornographic material
should be understood and interpreted and to on the internet and through other media. Mobile
get consensus on preliminary conclusions. phones were widely used by boys for watching
Talking about sexuality is challenging; infor- pornographic clips seven minutes long, which
mants were shy to disclose very personal feelings cost only three taka (US$ 0.04) from mobile
and experiences in the FGDs, and mostly referred phone shops. They also downloaded pornography
to experiences of their friends or cousins, not from friends’ mobiles through Bluetooth for free
their own. This did not hamper the research, as and had access to local erotic music, joke videos
we were interested in general patterns of sexual and uncensored clips from movies with erotic
reality among the adolescents. However, data scenes. Cheaply printed magazines with erotic pic-
from FGDs tend to be normative and were there- tures and texts were also popular, again mainly
fore triangulated as much as possible with the among boys. Only a few girls said they got involved
data from the other sources. At a later stage of in erotic conversations on their mobile phones
the project we also developed eight hypothetical late at night with boys. Boys mentioned mas-
cases, separately for boys and girls, based on the turbation as a way of getting sexual pleasure.

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None of the girls admitted to this, the main only targeted at married couples. In the table of
reason being that they feared losing their vir- contents of these books the chapter on sex is
ginity if they masturbated. marked “only for adults”. As a result, even young
Boys and girls both liked to watch romantic people who were less interested in religion were
movies (both Bengali and Hindi) and some interested to read this chapter secretly.
engaged in romantic relationships without sexual There were also cheaply printed Bengali maga-
intercourse. Boys and girls who were involved in zines with erotic pictures, mostly from foreign
a romantic relationship mentioned that it was pornographic magazines, and texts which were
not easy for them to meet in a public place or hang popular. These were mostly available from
out together, as they were afraid of being caught hawkers’ shops, set up in front of cinema halls,
by family members, neighbours or relatives. The local stationery shops or marketplaces. These
only public place in which high school and college items were not openly displayed but kept hidden
boys and girls could meet was a park, usually underneath other books and magazines and sup-
during or after school or college as the girls were plied to the customer only if asked for. In addition
not allowed to be out after dark. Urban respon- to mobile phone pornography there are locally
dents also mentioned rickshaws, cyber cafés, made erotic musical and comedy videos in rural,
cinema halls, friends’ or relatives’ houses and class- semi-urban and urban settings. These are made
rooms (after class) as places to meet up. The rural with amateur actors unknown to the mainstream
boys and girls mentioned bushes (ara, bash-zhaar), film or music industry, though sometimes using
jute/sugarcane/paddy fields and bamboo gardens pictures of popular singers or actors on the cover.
as their dating places. Only some boys admitted Mostly, boys have access to these materials.
sexual activity; among the latter some admitted Usually they purchased these cheaply available
that they had gone to sex workers, or had even materials in turns and shared them with each
got involved in rape. Interviews with service pro- other. They kept them in hidden places at home
viders confirmed that non-married adolescents, such as under the mattress, or inside books. Most
including girls, come for services such as abortion, of the girls had access to the religious books.
and (emergency) contraception, despite the bar- Some girls admitted having access to the other
riers. Thus, strict norms do not always lead to materials but said they had never bought them,
abstinence but rather to discretion and secrecy. only seen from friends.
The adults we interviewed said that although
to some extent choti boi and religious books
Access to publications about sex were also available in the past, only adults
Young people satisfied their curiosity regarding would have had access to them then. They were
sex and sexuality, through many sources of infor- unaware of the magnitude and variety of these
mation. One of the popular sources were erotic materials and adolescents’ access to them. More-
books, commonly known as choti boi, story books over, both the adolescents and adults admitted
with erotic pictures where the characters get that mobile phone and internet pornography were
involved in sexual acts every now and then and unknown by most parents.
the author gives a graphic description of them, This is the consequence of it being taboo for
including extramarital sex and incest. Curiously, adults to discuss sexuality with unmarried young
in a society where sex outside marriage is con- people. Young boys turn to street canvassers and
sidered to be an offence, during our data collec- herbalists (whose advice is freely available, only
tion no book was found where the sexual relations purchasing a medicine costs a little) to answer
of married couples were described; rather, those their questions and for information and help.
between stepmother and son, siblings, uncle/aunty, The information they receive from these sources
niece/nephew or friends were prominent. These is generally incomplete and often incorrect and
books contained unrealistic and false information leads to misconceptions, insecurities and fears,
regarding the size of the penis, duration of inter- and only reconfirms cultural ideas about gender
course and some sexual actions taken by the roles and male sexual power. Hence, when boys
women. On the other hand, religious life style and girls feel sexual desire or engage in activities
instruction books, commonly available in educated, with each other to explore their sexuality or when
lower middle class, Muslim households, have they seek information, eroticism, pleasure, inti-
a chapter on prayer in relation to sex acts, officially macy and romance, they feel afraid and guilty.

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Adolescents’ feelings about dating street, verbally or by throwing her a note, and
and sexuality the boy would expect that the girl would react
Boys and girls mentioned that romance and to the proposal right away. If there was no
pleasure were important to them, to their self- reaction or a negative reaction, the level of “eve
esteem and to their feeling of being mature, teasing” would intensify.
feminine or masculine. However, all of this must Girls said the boys would not only express
be hidden, especially from adults. They are attraction through their comments but also their
afraid of stigma and punishment, especially the distaste when they disliked a girl’s looks. For
girls. Adults suspect romantic relationships to be example, they would call a thin girl shutki (dried
sexual relationships. Boys and girls fear anger fish) or a tall girl logi (bamboo). When they
from families. For girls the consequences are saw a fat girl, they would say: “Can we make use
worse, including restrictions on movement, of her?” If the girls did not respond to a boy’s
having to leave school, being expelled from an offer, the boys would say: “This girl is sour like
orphanage, being forced to marry, being abused a green mango”. Sometimes the boys would
by a future husband, bringing humiliation to whistle, wink, clap, laugh loudly, sing songs
the families involved and hampering future (usually vulgar), blow kisses, or act out inter-
marriage options. If a romantic relationship does course with body language.
not lead to marriage, the girl’s family might end When the boys made comments or tried to
up paying more dowry for her. touch them, most of the girls said they would pass
Girls also had fears about menstruation and by silently, with lowered heads. Some girls asked
of not being able to prove their virginity on their their older brothers to handle the boys. One girl
wedding night. Boys were afraid of becoming said she was very sad about this teasing and
weak or sick because of masturbation or wet asked her mother to make her a burkha so that
dreams. Both sexes felt insecurity about sexual the boys would stop making comments. However,
power, sexual organs and breasts, about the even the girls who wore burkhas were not safe.
ability to perform sexually and to have children One of the religious school girls explained that
in the future. They feared arranged and forced the boys would say: “Hi sexy, Arabian nights.”
marriage to someone not loved and of losing a Girls tend to get scared or upset about these
romantic partner of their own choice. And they kinds of comments.
feared loss of reputation if caught doing some- Next to verbal abuse many girls mentioned
thing “bad”, and sinning against God. that they had experienced physical harassment
by boys such as pinching, kicking, touching their
breasts and standing very close. Girls also knew
of cases where a boy had thrown acid over a
“Eve teasing” from the girls’ perspective girl who had rejected his offer of “love”, and
“Eve teasing” and sexual harassment were among about girls being kidnapped and raped for the
the most commonly mentioned concerns relating same reason.
to sexuality by adolescents. The girls in this study None of the girls enjoyed the attention –
experienced frequent sexual harassment by boys because the boys were “unknown” to them, it
in public places, particularly erotic comments to happened in a public place, it gave them a con-
a girl who passes by. Most of these comments stant feeling of insecurity in public places, and
referred to the girl’s physical appearance and they feared being blamed for provoking it if they
body, for example: “Look at her breasts! What’s the reported it to anyone. Indeed, the findings from
size?” “Oh! Size of her buttock is 40 and breasts 36.” all the focus group discussions with girls showed
“Such an awesome piece!” “Hi sexy, how did you that if a girl reported harassment to anyone or
grow such big breasts?” “Walking, shaking.” Some- if she was identified as a victim of harassment,
times they would refer to the breats as a pair of society, or in some cases even her family, would
coconuts or apples. Girls would walk holding blame her and humiliate her family.
their books to their chests. Boys would comment:
“Wish I could be that book in her hand! I could
have got closer to her breasts or heart.” “Eve teasing” from the boys’ perspective
The girls said the boys would propose to start The boys acknowledged that they engaged in
a love relationship to a girl passing by on the harassing girls verbally and most said also

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physically. Some slum boys admitted being reveal experiences of harassment for fear of
involved in rape; two confessed to having par- being stigmatised, threatened with revenge or
ticipated in gang rape. Many of them admitted dismissed from their jobs.30
that they looked for the chance to touch a girl Gender inequality also dictates how boys and
in crowded public places, for example at carni- girls perceive their roles in sexual relationships.
vals or festivals, cinema halls, marketplaces, or Among married adolescent slum girls, Rashid
on a bus or train. “…when the lights went off… found that the concept of having control over
I pressed a girl’s breasts and buttock.” sexual experiences was rare.31 Others in South
When boys were asked why they teased/ Asia have shown that sexual harassment is a
harassed girls, most said they enjoyed it and mechanism of social control, deeply linked to
got pleasure from it. Some said it was to show patriarchy and power structures, and a reluctance
their masculinity in front of their peers and in to address the sexual abuse and exploitation of
response to peer pressure. For example, one boy women and girls.32–34 An anthropological work
said that friends told him he could demon- has argued that due to the transformation of
strate his valour by touching a girl’s breast in social and economic structures, men’s masculinity
front of them. So the boy ran up to a girl and is in crisis, which is a major reason for street
suddenly squeezed her breast in front of his harassment of women in Egypt.35
friends on the street to prove his masculinity. Values and norms relating to sexuality play
Others were fearful about punishment for “eve a dominant role too. Pre-marital sex is tradi-
teasing” girls, and did not get involved in it. tionally taboo in Bangladesh. 36–40 From our
Many boys thought “eve teasing” was normal. study it is evident that the cultural taboo of
They thought verbal comments and touching sexuality in general and the puritanical, sexually
girls in public places were not harmful for the repressive attitude of society towards premarital
girls, as they would not get pregnant, and adults sexuality results in gender segregation and
would not know about it. Some boys thought inadequate information for adolescents, leading
every unmarried boy had a right to approach to misconceptions and fears regarding sexuality.
every unmarried girl on the street, even if they As a result, sexuality is mystified and adolescents
were unknown or unrelated to each other. How- learn to attach sexual meanings to any inter-
ever, most of the boys had never thought about action with the opposite sex, hampering their
how the girls would feel about such behaviour. capability of more natural or spontaneous inter-
actions, and of developing non-sexual intimacy
with the opposite sex. This is more so since there
Discussion are very few public spaces where adolescent
This article contextualizes “eve teasing” of boys and girls who are not related can meet
Bangladeshi adolescent girls as a gendered and interact. At the same time, increased access
response which objectifies girls. Gender inequality, for adolescents to global media, including
leading to sexual harassment, is deeply embedded various pornographic materials, and other
in Bangladeshi social structure.20–24 In Bangladesh, social changes, have also contributed to the
patriarchy, gender norms and the custom of reinforcement of certain stereotypical gender
purdah (veiling) result in girls being discrimi- and sexual norms and expectations, such as
nated against from birth,25,26 and these are pre- male dominance and pleasure. Some authors
disposing factors for their experience of sexual blame media and Hindi films for promoting
harassment. 27 Laws and judicial procedures sexual violence in South Asia.2,3,11–14
further aggravate the problem.28,29 In spite of “Eve teasing” is probably also a consequence
the introduction of mobile courts to prosecute of restrictions on social mixing, romantic relation-
men and boys accused of sexually harassing girls ships and dating, exacerbated by the influence
and women, cultural practices cannot be changed of pornography, and the absence of sexuality
overnight.7,11 Society tends to blame the girls, and relationships education. It is evident that
making it hard for them to report sexual harass- the attempts of adults to regulate adolescent
ment and violence, which does not stop after sexuality according to norms for virginity and
adolescence. A 2004 report on workplace sexual arranged marriage, through segregating boys
harassment in Bangladesh, for example, found and girls and limiting their interactions, under-
that working women were also reluctant to mines the development of interactional skills

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between the sexes. Behaviour related to sex and Likewise, sexual and reproductive health ser-
sexuality of adolescents depends greatly on their vices targeting young people should also move
sexual socialisation. Moreover, sexual socializa- beyond a strict health focus and include coun-
tion is embedded in many non-sexual aspects selling, care and prevention in relation to the
of social life.41 Developing competence at sexual issues that are of main concern to adolescents,
interaction is part of sexual socialization,42,43 including those who are not (yet) sexually active.
involving communication and social skills, sen- Beyond physical health these need to include
sitivity and behavioural strategies that help services where adolescents can discuss fears and
people to arrange their sexual encounters in a insecurities and deal with gender-based and
mutually rewarding way.44 Without this, “eve- sexual violence, such as forced marriage, sexual
teasing” more easily flourishes. harassment and stigma, and forced sex. More-
Lastly, there is the lack of access to reproductive over, facilitating the reporting of harassment
and sexual health information and services in needs to become a priority. Boys and girls need
Bangladesh. The unnecessary anxieties and inse- to become more aware and respectful of their
curities relating to their bodies and sexual feel- own and others’ sexual rights, and parents and
ings expressed by adolescents in this study show adults in society need to realize their role in
why young people should have access to com- preventing (not tacitly supporting) sexual vio-
prehensive sexuality education that goes beyond lence. A different form of interaction between boys
a focus on health outcomes and addresses and girls is necessary and with it, strict gender
gender inequality and builds skills for social- separation should stop. The media can play an
sexual interaction competence. important role in this and encourage people to
At the time of this research, there was no continue and increase discussion of sexual violence.
sexuality education in the school curriculum in
Bangladesh. More recently, BRAC has introduced Acknowledgements
sex education in their rural adolescents’ schools, The research was commissioned by the Interna-
and FPAB and four other NGOs are developing tional Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), with
and introducing a comprehensive sexuality edu- funding from the Dutch Government. The field-
cation programme in schools in some districts. work was supported by FPAB. The authors are
Bangladeshi adolescents critically need access especially grateful to the adolescent informants
to correct and complete information to counter- whose experiences and opinions this article is based
balance the information and messages they are on and to the eight young people who carried out
getting from friends, street canvassers, the inter- a large part of this research: Akhter Moshammat
net, pornography and elsewhere. No matter how Sabina, Islam Mainul Hasan, Islam Mohammad
strict the norms and social punishments, adoles- Jahidul, Khatun Parijat, Pervas Kamal, Rahman
cents and young people, as part of normal Mahfuza, Ray Mithon Kumar, Sume Afroza Khanam,
sexual development, will look for information, and to Tanzir Azmarina. Special thanks go to our
pleasure and erotica outside the control of colleagues from the youth and adolescents
adults. The best way that adults can protect teams at IPPF London and IPPF Regional Office
and guide them is to equip them with informa- for South Asia, to the staff of FPAB and to Kathy
tion, skills and confidence. de Kruijf for help with editing.

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Résumé Resumen
La violence contre les femmes est un mécanisme La violencia contra las muejres es un mecanismo
social confirmant la subordination des femmes social para confirmar su subordinación en muchas
dans beaucoup de sociétés. La violence et le sociedades. La violencia y el acoso sexuales tienen
harcèlement sexuels ont plusieurs conséquences diversos impactos psicológicos negativos en las
psychologiques négatives sur les filles, notamment niñas, tales como una persistente sensación de
un sentiment persistant d’insécurité et la perte de inseguridad y pérdida de autoestima. En este
l’estime de soi. Cet article cherche à contextualiser artículo se procura contextualizar una forma
une forme particulière de harcèlement sexuel avec específica de acoso sexual, es decir, eve teasing
le nom d’eve teasing, subie par les adolescentes (incitación de Eva), sufrido por las adolescentes
bangladeshies (12–18 ans), qui est apparue de Bangladesh (de 12 a 18 años de edad), que
dans une étude sur le comportement sexuel surgió de un estudio realizado por jóvenes sobre
à l’adolescence. L’étude a utilisé des méthodologies el comportamiento sexual entre adolescentes. Se
qualitatives et une approche participative, avec utilizaron metodologías cualitativas y un enfoque
des discussions de groupe, des entretiens avec participativo, que incluye discusiones en grupos
des informateurs clés et l’observation. Malgré les focales, entrevistas con informantes clave y
tabous, les adolescents célibataires cherchent observación. Pese a los tabúes, las adolescentes
activement des informations sur la sexualité, le solteras buscan información sobre sexo, placer
plaisir érotique et les histoires d’amour. Les erótico y amor. La información fue fácil de
informations étaient aisément disponibles dans obtener por medio de videos, clips de teléfonos
des films vidéo, des clips sur téléphone portable móviles y revistas pornográficas, pero reforzó la
et des magazines pornographiques, mais desigualdad de género. Eve teasing era una forma
renforçaient les inégalités entre filles et garçons. de canalizar los sentimientos sexuales de los
L’eve teasing était un exutoire pour les sentiments niños, quienes adquirían placer de esto y
sexuels des garçons ; ils y prenaient plaisir et podían demostrar su masculinidad. A las niñas
pouvaient afficher leur virilité. Cette pratique no les gustaba y ellas temían que las culparan
ne plaisait pas aux filles qui craignaient d’être de provocarlo. Por lo tanto, eve teasing es un
accusées de la provoquer. L’eve teasing résulte resultado de las normas socioculturales relacionadas
donc de normes socioculturelles relatives à la con la sexualidad, así como de la falta de acceso
sexualité, ainsi que du manque d’accès aux a información y servicios de salud sexual y
informations et services de santé sexuelle et reproductiva en Bangladesh. Estos hallazgos
génésique au Bangladesh. Ces conclusions recalcan la importancia de ofrecer educación
soulignent l’importance d’une éducation sexuelle sexual integral que vaya más allá de un mero
complète allant au-delà d’une simple priorité à la enfoque en salud, trate las normas de género
santé, qui aborde les normes sexospécifiques et y ayude a la juventud a adquirir habilidades
aide les jeunes à acquérir des compétences pour de interacción social-sexual.
l’interaction socialo-sexuelle.

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