#NoMeansNo in Bangladesh

DHAKA - The women in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka are fed up with it: they want to be able to go out on the streets without men bothering them. And so they organise their own transport through the impossibly chaotic, congested traffic: a motor-taxi with a woman at the wheel. Or they buy themselves a motorbike. First alone, as an exception, which provokes opposition and sometimes outright attacks. Now more and more numerous, they close ranks, form motorcycle clubs and lead demonstrations against violence against women.

As a motorcyclist with numerous kilometres in Eurasia on the counter, outspokenly a-religious and at the same time fascinated by Islamic cultures and especially rebellious women, Trui Hanoulle has been following a Bangladeshi women's motorcycle club online for years. She was triggered by their courage and actions in traditional Islamic society. Last summer she rode through Bangladesh together with Indian motorcyclist and photographer Dimple Chaudhary. With some new contacts and insights, Chaudhary returned to Dhaka a few months later.

Photo: © Dimple Chaudhary.

Supported

€ 1.741 allocated on 12/08/2019.

ID:

FPD/2019/1651

Themes

Publication

PRINT (in Dutch)

Bangladesh: vrouwen op de motor in een mannenmaatschappij, Lentenummer MO*, 04/03/2020.

Team members

Trui Hanoulle

Trui Hanoulle is a Belgian photographer, storyteller, graphic designer, teacher, motorcyclist, long-distance traveller & queer.

Meer lezen

Dimple Chaudhary

Dimple Chaudhary is a photographer, writer, motorcyclist, queer, living and working in India.

Meer lezen

Related working grants

Need resources for your own investigative story?

Journalismfund Europe's flexible grants programmes enable journalists to produce relevant public interest stories with a European mind-set from international, national, and regional perspectives.

Apply