Eliminating Violence Against Women in Bangladesh
Violence
against women -- one of the most shameful of all human rights violations
-- is widespread. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth.
It occurs in times of armed conflict and in peace, in the home, in the
workplace and in the streets. It stands in the way of progress towards
equality, development, peace and all human rights for all.
UN member states have enacted legislation banning violence against women -- legislation covering the home, workplace and society at large. They have introduced protection services and trained professionals to take effective action. They have launched campaigns to make all sectors of society understand that violence against women is unacceptable in any form.
November 25 has been declared International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Women in Bangladesh live in an unequal society. Violence against women is widespread inside and outside the home. Nutritional levels are lower for females than for males - 59% of girls suffer chronic malnutrition and the number of girls dying before age 5 is 11% higher than the number of boys. UNDP estimates that 58% of pregnant women suffer from anemia and only 5% of births are attended by a healthcare professional.
Because of legal discrimination and high illiteracy rates, women have little access to credit and few inheritance rights under the law.
Rural women face even worse conditions in Bangladesh because of the little access to land, which is key to economic and political power (only 5% of government positions are held by women). Because of illiteracy, women's opportunities for improving their status are extremely limited.
A
phenomenon in Bangladesh is acid attacks against women. Sulfuric acid is
thrown on a woman's face, forever scarring her and revoking her chance to
get married and have children. Attacks can come from "rejected suitors,"
or be motivated by family feuds or the absence of a dowry. Men can access
acid easily, and attacks have been on the rise: an attack is reported
every three days. Few women seek justice because of limited legal help,
fear of perpetrators, police corruption, and a discriminatory legal
system.
Many NGOs work to improve the status and situation of women in the country. Among them is DemocracyWatch, a human rights organization that monitors the levels of violence against women. It is currently running a programme to improve the way crimes against women are reported in the media.
“At the moment, the victim becomes more victimized,” says DemocracyWatch program manager Aminul Ehsan. DemocracyWatch is working at the grass roots level with local government to encourage more women to participate in the political process and voice their concerns.
“Over the next five years we will be concentrating more on addressing the issue of violence against women, with social awareness projects targeting local opinion leaders to make them understand why a country needs its female population to be treated equally,” he says.
Monitoring studies by DemocracyWatch have shown that domestic violence is the major source of violence against women. From domestic violence came other acts of violence such as rape and acid throwing. Many women were afraid to report domestic violence. Parents were ashamed to report abuses against their daughters. Also, victims suffered under a corrupt and insensitive justice system, which often did not come through for them.
According
to Mr Ehsan, the biggest challenge was to change people’s attitude. “The
way to do this is to speak to local leaders and get them to change their
attitudes.”
Another challenge was to make women financially independent through entrepreneurship because when a woman was financially dependent, she could not raise her voice against injustice.
Education, says Mr Ehsan, is the key to the empowerment of women. Once women could read and write, they could learn many other things.