Bangladesh: Gender-based violence still rampant

DHAKA, 25 November 2008 (IRIN) - Hundreds of thousands of women are the victims of domestic violence in Bangladesh each year, say activists, although most cases go unreported.

A report by the Bangladesh Centre for Law and Mediation, a local NGO, cited local media as saying that in the first half of 2008, 179 women had been subjected to domestic violence. Of these, 112 wives were killed by their husbands in collusion with her in-laws, with 99 killed over dowry issues.

According to a major study by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases and Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), about 60 percent of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) had been physically or sexually abused during the lifetimes. The finding was based on a survey of over 3,130 women.

Two-thirds of the women never talked about their experience of violence and almost none accessed formal services for support, it said.

About 19 percent of women surveyed had experienced severe physical violence, defined as being hit with a fist or object, kicked or dragged, beaten up, choked, burnt, or threatened or injured with a weapon. [See: Health and Science Bulletin, Vol. 4 No. 2 Jun 2006]

Flawed legal system

"Some laws are not women-friendly in Bangladesh and women do not enjoy equal rights in marriage, divorce, custody, guardianship and inheritance," Pornchai Suchitta, a UN Population Fund (UNFPA) representative in Bangladesh, said at the launch of the State of the World Population report 2008 in November. "Although the constitution provides [for] equal rights to men and women in public life in Bangladesh, it is silent about family and private life," he said.

The UNFPA report notes that more girls than boys drop out of school and women's and girls' opportunities to participate in wage employment outside the house are limited.

Men are primary decision-makers about child bearing and contraceptive use, while women themselves have no power to decide on issues of their reproductive health, it said.

Risk factors

The ICDDR, B study revealed that in both urban and rural areas, a husband was more likely to abuse his wife if his father had abused his mother or if dowry demands had not been met, as these reflect the family's attitude towards the bride.

It also showed that the risk of violence fell when there was better communication between husband and wife and when the husband had been educated beyond the 10th grade.

In urban areas, women whose fathers had abused their mothers were more likely to be abused in turn by their husbands.

Poverty

Poverty, especially hunger, plays a significant role in determining the degree and frequency of violence against women at home.

"Poverty is one of the leading causes of domestic violence. The majority of battered women who come to us are from poor households," advocate Fauzia Karim of the Bangladesh Women Lawyers' Association, who offers free legal service to victims of violence, told IRIN.

But changing people's perceptions will require stronger moves by the government.

"Women lag far behind men in higher education, top government and business jobs, and politics. Violence against women will not go unless the underlying causes of women's subservience are effectively eliminated. Despite the promulgation of the Acid Control Act 2002 and Dowry Prohibition Act, the number of dowry-related violence cases is climbing," Baby Moudud, editor of the weekly news magazine Bichitra, and herself a leading women's' rights activist, told IRIN.

Victims keep silent

Most abused women never tell anyone they are suffering from abuse, according to the ICDDR,B.

The main reasons for their silence are: (1) violence in marriage is commonly accepted by society; (2) fear of social stigma; (3) fear that their husbands would become more violent if they found out.

The ICDDR,B study showed that 60 percent of surveyed urban and 51 percent of the surveyed rural women never asked for any help.

Only 2 percent had ever sought help from local leaders, doctors, health workers, or the police. Women approached these sources only when they could no longer endure the violence, or when it threatened their lives or the health of their children, the survey said.

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