Understanding the Challenges for Bangladeshi Women to Participate in #MeToo Movement

Abstract

A series of events in October 2017 led to the initiation of an unprecedented global feminist movement over various social media platforms, where using the hashtag #MeToo (or some variants of it), women across the world publicly shared their untold stories of being sexually harassed. We conducted an anonymous online survey (n=180) and an interview study (n=30) to understand the participation of Bangladeshi women in this movement. Our study concurs that while Bangladeshi women, who are regular users of social media, supported the spirit of this movement; did not participate in it, even though they had many bitter experiences. Our analysis shows that their non-participation was largely influenced by a cultural difference, patriarchy, perceived futility and lack of hope, and a reliance on alternatives. We discuss how our findings of women's use of technology platforms, which is conditioned and limited by male-dominated and conservative Bangladeshi society, relates to the broader issues in feminism that the GROUP community is interested in.