Not easy being a child in Bangladesh, reveals study

DHAKA: Half of all disabled children in impoverished Bangladesh have been sexually abused, often by close family relatives, according to a new study.

Some 52 per cent of girls and 48 per cent of boys aged between seven and 18 years have been abused, molested or raped, said the report by a Bangladeshi state-run foundation for the disabled and Save the Children.

“The majority of the attackers are male and some 40 per cent of the offenders are family members which shows how vulnerable our disabled children are,” said Selina Ahmed of Save the Children. “This is the first study carried out in Bangladesh on sexual abuse of disabled children and we have been shocked by the findings,” she said.

The study was conducted on 216 children and 535 adults with hearing, vision, physical and mental disabilities. Researchers also interviewed family members, teachers and charity workers. According to the study, children with mental problems face more harassment than other disabled children because they often cannot distinguish between sexual abuse and normal physical contact.

Ahmed said that almost all the sex abuse goes unpunished due to Bangladesh’s “ingrained negative attitude” towards disabled people. “Families simply ignore their disabled children’s complaints. Parents tend to neglect these sorts of crimes,” she said, adding teachers were also found to be among offenders.

Another study conducted by leading charity Manusher Jonno Foundation found that 26 per cent of the disabled beggars seeking alms on the roads in Dhaka were forced by their families to take up the practice. “They are sent to the streets to beg when they are relatively young, mostly when they were children,” said Mahbub Alam of the foundation.

According to the study carried out on the homes of 100 disabled beggars, family members pocket the money earned through begging. “These families treat the disabled beggars as cash cows,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2010.