6. Findings
6.8. Other vulnerabilities and risks
101 Parents talked about the “fear of losing honour,” leading to child marriage. By marrying their daughters off they “got relief from losing honour.” They explained that the girls “may have affair, she might elope with a boy, then how will you feel. When they live with their husband, the husband must ensure their safety” (FGD Gaibandha, parents)
6.8. Other vulnerabilities and risks
102 However, the UP member of Perul Union, Lalmai Upazila, Cumilla felt that the problem of drugs had been reduced compared to before. He attributed this to the fact that his area was the constituency of the Finance Minister who was very active in ensuring drugs would be controlled.
The OC of the area is also very active in controlling the drug trade.
Hijackings were mentioned in the FGD with two incidents of hijacking of young boys/men for money—BDT 3,000/7,000. One of the female participants from Gaibandha narrated how her younger son was harassed at the marketplace:
“He went to buy a t-shirt. One girl came to him and took him to a corner.
Others held him and called at our house asking for money. My younger daughter was crying and requested them to release her brother. Finally, we had to give him BDT 1,000 to release my son.”
Parents felt that COVID-19, the lockdown, and school closure have resulted in increased crime, drugs, and getting into trouble. The young boys were idle, could spend time with “bad boys,”
and went from smoking to drugs. This would not have happened if they were busy with school or studying.
A 15-year-old school-going boy from Cumilla mentioned that boys smoke, take drugs, steal, and boys of his area and neighbouring area get into fights. Another boy in Cumilla mentioned that his friends got into more conflicts during COVID-19 with other groups of kids around their age. On the other hand, a 14-year-old out-of-school boy stated that rivalry and conflicts with other groups of children decreased during COVID-19 as they had fewer encounters because of the COVID-19 restrictions.
The key informants mentioned that it was mainly the young boys who were involved in criminal activities, the most common being petty theft.
The KIIs in Cumilla had mentioned gang violence among boys and it was mentioned by several of the boys there. The Narail District Judge of the NSNDA Tribunal and Shishu Adalat mentioned the prevalence of gang violence among adolescent boys. He said,
Everywhere you will find the same situation. Youth gangs meaning groups of young boys who carry out crimes together. They are involved in all types of crimes from murders to all sorts of offences.
Increased police presence during COVID-19 having a deterrent effect was mentioned in Cumilla as well as Narail. A 17-year-old working boy from Cumilla mentioned that taking/trading in drugs, stealing, and fighting among youth went down in that area during the lockdown as police used to patrol that area at that time. In Narail it was also mentioned that risky behaviour by boys reduced since increased police presence during the lockdown when boys used to hang out less together. Another means of making sure that young boys do not get into trouble mentioned in Cumilla was that Union Parishad (UP) members keep an eye out on the boys. This was also mentioned by the UP member interviewed as well.
103
“We try and be strict with our children. Make sure they come home before evening. If we can’t manage to discipline our boys then we call the commissioner.”
—FGD Cumilla parents
The Narail District Judge of the NSNDA Tribunal and Shishu Adalat mentioned that the three neighbouring districts of Jessore, Satkhira, and Narail all were prone to trafficking. Kalia and Mohanlal Upazila of Narail are areas where human trafficking is common, and many victims of the crime are adolescent girls. The Narail District Judge of the NSNDA Tribunal and Shishu Adalat mentioned that he had many cases related to the trafficking of women and children in his court.
He also felt that the number of such cases had gone up during COVID-19. The Narail Probation Officer and district judge explained that with the long-term closure of schools and increasing poverty among certain families, they were tempted to send their daughters to work. The traffickers tempted them saying that there were various employment opportunities in India or Dhaka and they would end up in brothels.
Adolescent survey respondents were asked their opinion on whether human/adolescent trafficking has increased after COVID19: 41.17% thought that the frequency of trafficking had remained the same, with higher figures reported for females. Among the 31% that consider a decrease, males report at 42% compared to 25.34% for females. Moreover, 15.69% consider that these cases have increased somewhat, whereas 17.72% of females share this view with 11.73% of males. Furthermore, 12.15% think that these cases have increased a lot with no significant differences in responses by sex.
6.8.2. Vulnerabilities at the workplace
The respondents who were involved in income-generating activities were asked about other vulnerabilities they might face in their workplace. The responses have been categorized as to whether it has never happened or happened at least once. Respondents who were at least shouted at once report higher figures in the periods April–May 2020 and June–March 2020, at 10.85% and 12.26%, respectively. This drops to 7.08% in the last month, which is similar to 7.55% during the pre-lockdown period January–March 2020. A similar trend is observed for being insulted in the workplace. It starts at 5.19% which gradually increases to 6.6% and peaks at 7.08% in the period June 2020–March 2021. The figures for being physically assaulted or sexually harassed in the workplace are generally all below 3% for each of the periods shown above. This is consistent with the fact that adolescents usually are hesitant to report sexual harassment.
Regarding exposure to risky environments, there is a sharp increase from 8.96% to 16.98% in the first lockdown. This increases to 18.4% before dropping to 10.38% during the last month. Similar observations are made for suffering from an injury because of work. The figures for suffering from an injury at least once increases sharply in the successive periods April–May 2020 and June 2020–March 2021, with 16.51% of respondents reporting being injured at least once in the latter period.
104 Table 6.8.1: Number of adolescents facing risks and other vulnerabilities in the workplace
Jan–Mar 2020 Apr-May 2020
Jun 2020–Mar 2021
Last month Happened at least once Number of
adolescents
Shouted at 16 23 26 15
Insulted 11 14 15 11
Physically assaulted 6 6 5 3
Sexually harassed 4 3 4 3
Exposed to risky work
environments 19 26 39 22
Suffered from injury due to
work 16 32 35 21
Number of observations (N) 212