Department of Economics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
School of Medicine, Division of Public Health, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Glob Public Health. 2024 Jan;19(1):2380845. doi: 10.1080/17441692.2024.2380845. Epub 2024 Jul 29.
The ubiquity of public-space sexual harassment (PSH) of women in the global South, particularly in South Asia, is both a public health and gender equity issue. This study examined men's experiences with and perspectives on PSH of women in three countries with shared cultural norms and considerable gender inequalities - Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. The three-country survey in 2021-2022 was completed by 237 men who were generally young, urban, single, well-educated, and middle-/high-income. Among the 53.3% who witnessed PSH, 80% reported intervening to stop it or help the victim. A substantial share of men worried about PSH, and bore emotional, time, and financial costs as they took precautionary or restorative measures to help women in their families avoid PSH or deal with its consequences. Most respondents articulated potential gains for men, women, and society if PSH no longer existed. However, a non-negligible share of participants held patriarchal gender attitudes that are often used to justify harassment, and a small share did not favour legal and community sanctions. Many called for stricter legal sanctions and enforcement, culture change, and education. Men's perspectives offer insights for prevention of harassment and mitigation of its consequences.
公共空间对女性的性骚扰（PSH）在全球南方普遍存在，特别是在南亚，这既是一个公共卫生问题，也是一个性别平等问题。本研究考察了三个具有共同文化规范和相当大性别不平等的国家——孟加拉国、印度和巴基斯坦——的男性对女性 PSH 的经历和看法。这项于 2021-2022 年进行的三国调查共有 237 名男性参与，他们普遍年轻、居住在城市、单身、受过良好教育、收入处于中/高水平。在 53.3%的目击者中，80%的人报告说他们曾干预以阻止 PSH 或帮助受害者。相当一部分男性担心 PSH，并采取预防或恢复措施，以帮助他们家庭中的女性避免 PSH 或应对其后果，为此付出了情感、时间和经济成本。大多数受访者表达了如果 PSH 不复存在，男性、女性和社会可能获得的潜在收益。然而，相当一部分参与者持有父权制性别态度，这些态度常常被用来为骚扰行为辩护，还有一小部分人不赞成法律和社区制裁。许多人呼吁采取更严格的法律制裁和执法、文化变革和教育。男性的观点为预防骚扰和减轻其后果提供了启示。
