Disasters, 2000, 24(1): 54-70 Female Adolescents and Their Sexuality: Notions of Honour, Shame, Purity and Pollution during the Floods Sabina Faiz Rashid Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC Stephanie Michaud Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC This paper explores the experiences of female adolescents during the 1998 floods in Bangladesh, focusing on the implications of socio-cultural norms related to notions of honour, shame, purity and pollution. These cultural notions are reinforced with greater emphasis as girls enter their adolescence, regulating their sexuality and gender relationships. In Bangladeshi society, adolescent girls are expected to maintain their virginity until marriage. Contact is limited to one's families and extended relations. Particularly among poorer families, adolescent girls tend to have limited mobility to safeguard their 'purity'. This is to ensure that the girl's reputation does not suffer, thus making it difficult for the girl to get married. For female adolescents in Bangladesh, a disaster situation is a uniquely vulnerable time. Exposure to the unfamiliar environment of flood shelters and relief camps, and unable to maintain their 'space' and privacy from male strangers, a number of the girls were vulnerable to sexual and mental harassment. With the floods, it became difficult for most of the girls to be appropriately 'secluded' . Many were unable to sleep, bathe or get access to latrines in privacy because so many houses and latrines were underwater. Some of the girls who had begun menstruation were distressed at not being able to keep themselves clean. Strong social taboos associated with menstruation and the dirty water that surrounded them made it difficult for the girls to wash their menstrual cloths or change them frequently enough. Many of them became separated from their social network of relations, which caused them a great deal of anxiety and stress. Their difficulty in trying to follow social norms have had far-reaching implications on their health, identity, family and community relations. Keywords: Bangladesh, 1998 floods, adolescent behaviour, sexual mores. Background In 1998, Bangladesh faced devastating floods as almost two-thirds of the country went under water for nearly nine weeks. Crops, property and infrastructure all suffered massive damage, while 30 million people were affected and had to cope with the loss of employment, a drastic reduction in their income, harassment, various health problems, and uncertainty about their futures (BRAC, 1988; Helen Keller International, 1988). C Overseas Development Institute, 2000. Published by Blackwell Publishers, Oxford OX4 UJF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
Female Adolescents and Their Sexuality 55 Poor women and children have been repeatedly recognised to be the most vulnerable groups during such natural disasters (Bari, 1992; Hena, 1992). Yet very little is known about the particular experiences and coping of adolescent girls. Adolescence itself, as a group different from adults and children, is a fairly new concept to Bangladesh and most developing countries, althrough it is a particularly significant stage in human development with profound influence on a person's future. As such, it marks the transition period during which young people are gradually socialised