Interview with Safia Azim, Coordinator of Naripokkho pilot study on Violence Against Women in Bangladesh and Lecturer in Psychology at Dhaka University

When we were doing the household survey, for example, we found one woman who had a gash in her skull from being battered the day before. We got her medical help and gave legal advice. We also offer back up systems such as counselling and a help line at Naripokkho.

Yes, we have. In the beginning, we were treated as a joke. The police made it unpleasant for us by making remarks and being hostile. But now they take us seriously and actually send women to talk to us. In the hospitals, doctors refer cases they suspect to be domestic violence to us. In the courts, people are now more used to seeing women around.

No, there are plenty of women willing to help. The problem is that sometimes they are idealistic and naïve and think they can save the world. They have to change these ideas before they can help. Also, women have to understand that, whatever their position in life, they are vulnerable to violence. There should not be a "them" and "us" attitude and a feeling that there are "saviours". Now there are more and more students doing research into this area. Men are also studying violence against men.

No, we found no difference between incidents of violence in rural areas and in the city. In the village, a woman was more likely to get help from the community. Someone would intervene. In the city, we do not know our neighbours and people don’t like to interfere.