Adolescents constitute a nation's core resource for national renewal and growth. Adolescence is a period in life when transition from childhood to adulthood takes place and behaviours and lifestyles are shaped. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adolescence is the period which shapes the future of girls' and boys' lives. There are 28 million adolescents in Bangladesh; 13.7 million of them are girls and 14.3 million boys. The situation of adolescent girls in Bangladesh is characterized by inequality and subordination within the family and society. This inequality leads to widespread practice of child marriage, marginalization or exclusion from health, education and economic opportunities, and vulnerability to violence and sexual abuse. In Bangladesh, the legal age of marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys. However, 33 percent of adolescent girls are married before the age of 15 and 60 percent become mothers by the age of 19. Research finds that adolescents with higher level of education and from more affluent families tend to marry at a later age. Boys, however, become ready for marriage only after several years of adolescence and young adulthood.

When a girl gets married, she usually drops out of school and begins full-time work in her in-laws' household. In the in-laws' house, she is marginalized. She becomes vulnerable to all forms of abuse, including dowry-related violence. In Bangladesh, it is still common for a bride's family to pay dowry, despite the practice being illegal. Dowry demands can also continue after the wedding. For an adolescent bride, even if her in-laws are supportive, there are greater health risks in terms of pregnancy and childbirth. The majority of adolescent brides and their families are uninformed or insufficiently informed about reproductive health and contraception. The maternal mortality rate for adolescents is double the national rate.

Education is key to delaying marriage for adolescent girls

When adolescent girls are pulled out of school, either for marriage or work, they often lose their mobility, their friends and social status. The lack of mobility among adolescent girls also curtails their economic and non-formal educational opportunities. Moreover, they lack information about health issues. According to a study, only about three in five adolescents have even heard of HIV. It is also reported that more than 50 percent of adolescent girls are undernourished and suffer from anaemia. Adolescent fertility is also high in Bangladesh. The contribution of the adolescent fertility rate to the total fertility rate increased from 20.3% in 1993 to 24.4% in 2007. Moreover, neonatal mortality is another concern for younger mothers.

While the situation for adolescent boys is somewhat better, many are vulnerable and lack the power to make decisions about their own lives. Many boys who are unable to go to school, or are unemployed, remain unaware of social or health issues. They are at considerable risk of being drawn into criminal activities. They are also more likely to get exposed to drugs and alcohol.

Shilpi was only 15 years old when she married Rashid in 2008. Marrying off daughters at an early age is a standard practice for many families living in rural Bangladesh. After her wedding, Shilpi joined a local empowerment group that provides adolescent girls with the tools needed to gradually change cultural practices, particularly those pertaining to early marriage and pregnancy. The group's activities include discussions on how to most effectively change behaviour related to reproductive health as well as one-on-one counselling. It also offers peer-to-peer support and life skills training that help adolescents say no to early marriage. The empowerment group is one of more than 10,000 groups supported by some local Non Government Organizations (NGOs) working all over Bangladesh. These NGOs work through Canada's Adolescent Reproductive Health Project which also aims to increase access to quality health services for adolescents. During one of the group sessions, Shilpi came to understand the potentially harmful effects of early marriage and pregnancy.

While maternal mortality in Bangladesh has declined by more than 50 percent since 2001, the rate remains high with 173 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017 - dropping from 322 in 2001. Girls who get pregnant are at risk of serious health complications. These include dangerous hemorrhage and fistula, a painful internal injury caused by obstructed childbirth that commonly leads to serious maternal morbidities and social exclusion.

Empowerment groups provide crucial support to adolescent girls

When Shilpi heard about those risks, she invited her husband, Rashid, to discuss pregnancy with a counsellor. After hearing about the risks, Rashid agreed to delay having children for five years despite pressures from his parents and neighbours to produce an offspring. Together, the couple met with a female health care provider, who informed them about the various family planning options available.

Shilpi's mother-in-law and neighbours continued to pressurize the newlyweds. Deeply rooted cultural practices and traditions caused a rift between Shilpi and Rashid and their extended family, some of whose members insulted and criticized the couple. Unable to convince their close relatives of the risks, Shilpi and Rashid returned to the counsellor. They took the help of a parent peer who had been trained to speak to other parents about adolescent issues.

Shilpi's mother-in-law and neighbours eventually came to understand the harmful effects of early pregnancy on mother and child. After that, the villagers no longer pressurized the couple; their parents and neighbours began to support them and speak out against early marriage and pregnancy.

The Burning Issue of Bullying

In a study conducted in June 2021, it was found that 44.4 percent of school students in Bangladesh suffered from bullying.

Bullying typically refers to deliberate actions or repeated behaviour that can be verbal, physical, psychological, or social, which cause a serious extent of intimidation or offence to someone else. Such actions undermine, humiliate, and cause both physical and emotional harm to the subjects. Young students especially tend to be extremely vulnerable to bullying, mainly because many of them are not entirely aware of the concept-that is, victims do not realise that they are being bullied, and bullies do not realise that they are causing harm.

In a report by UNESCO published in October 2019, it was shown that 23 percent of school students in Bangladesh are victims of bullying. In another study conducted in June 2021, it was found that 44.4 percent of school students in Bangladesh suffered from bullying. These data give us an idea of the prevalence of bullying in our country and how it is becoming a pressing issue by the day.

Existing data suggest that 44.4 percent of school students had experienced bullying victimisation. This is comparable to another study, according to a survey report by UNICEF, which included a sample from 122 countries, where 35 percent of children aged between 13 and 15 years in Bangladesh said they experienced bullying at school.

Unity among students can help prevent bullying

Many children start bullying others without the knowledge of the consequences, not realising that their actions may be hurtful, as the actions often leave them with a feeling of authority over others. On the other hand, many children suffer from external trauma within their personal lives and tend to normalise crude behaviour within themselves, exerting their pent-up frustration on other children. Flipping the coin towards another perspective, many bullies have often been victims themselves.

Mostly, bullies go on to suffer negative impacts further down the line. Issues in relationships with friends and family, difficulty coping with varying work environments, anxiety disorders, and many more problems may arise as they transition into adulthood. The victims of bullying, on the other hand, grow up with serious mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, inferiority complex, eating disorders, and loneliness. Moreover, bullied children may also resort to becoming bullies themselves, keeping the cycle going.

Moreover, the counselling department of the school could also take initiatives such as organising workshops, conducting one-on-one sessions, and assigning a monitor among the students who would proactively address uncalled-for situations and inform teachers of them. Schools could also install complaint boxes which students can write to the authorities about any incidents that made them feel uncomfortable. To deal with such situations, students might also adopt a few strategies, such as standing up for each other, facing the bully in a group, and uniting against the bully to tackle him/her. As part of the development measure, they should be trained in groups from an early age to deal with such behaviour in a group.

This is an excerpt from the desk review titled 'Sexual Harassment in Public Spaces in Bangladesh' which was issued by Share-Net Bangladesh secretariat.

Questions

Comprehension Questions

1. According to the study conducted in 2021, what percentage of students are victims of bullying?
2. What are the causes of bullying mentioned in the report above?
3. What are some of the probable effects of bullying on students?
4. Make a list of initiatives that can be done to prevent bullying in school.