Violence against women and children is a reality in most countries of the world. This violence takes place in various forms and has been an ongoing problem for hundreds of years.
Apart from being role model for women empowerment, Bangladesh is also known as a country suffering from violence against women.[1] The government of Bangladesh has enacted several laws and crafted many plans over the years to prevent violence against women and children. Despite these measures, violence against women is gradually increasing along with some mutations in forms and origin.
Keeping this in mind, the National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh (NHRC) conducted a National Inquiry on Prevention of Violence against Women and Children in August 2022. The National Inquiry was the first of its kind in Bangladesh devoted to examining the impact of violence against women and children and their relatives and to exploring the obstacles that the victims face in getting legal assistance and justice.
The National Inquiry collected information and data from government offices and non-governmental organizations, elected public representatives of local government organizations, and representatives of the civil society through different types of questionnaires prepared by the National Enquiry Committee and also by means of interview (with Key Informants). The National Human Rights Commission appointed twenty data collectors to gather data from the field. Twenty-two Districts and twenty-two Upazilas (administrative divisions in a district) were selected on random basis. Data were collected from thirty-two female rape-victims who were under treatment in One-stop Crisis Centers (OCCs) of government medical hospitals with the help of the clinical psychologists of the regional trauma counseling centers. Data were also collected from twenty-two convicted prisoners of rape cases in Keraniganj prison of Dhaka district, Kasimpur prison of Gazipur, central prisons of Mymensing and Comilla districts, with the help of the clinical psychologists.
Nature of Violence against Women
Women become victims of violence in many forms. Patterns of violence are also changing over time. They are abused both at home and in public space. Rape has been the worst form of violence against women. Although various measures have been taken to prevent rape, this crime is increasing day by day. Women face sexual harassment in public place, workplace, educational institutions, and inside transport vehicles, and even within their home. The National Inquiry revealed that most of the rapists were neighbors or close relatives of the survivors. Data from the OCC of Dhaka Medical College Hospital revealed that 94 percent of the women victims who sought help faced sexual harassment, 4.8 percent faced physical attack and 1.3 percent suffered burning.
The study revealed that degradation of social and moral values (41 percent) was the major cause of rape in Bangladesh. Easy availability of internet and mobile phone allowed people to see whatever they want to see online. Getting addicted to online pornography is one of the main reasons for social and moral degradation.
Aside from this, negative attitude and ignorance towards women (20.13 percent), complication in implementing laws (17 percent), economic backwardness (16 percent), lack of religious values (2.6 percent), misuse of information technology (0.6 percent), and drug addiction (0.9 percent) are some of the other main causes of rape.
Punishment in Rape Cases Not Ensured
The National Inquiry results showed that the survivors' families usually wanted to hide the rape incidence due to social stigma and fear of harassment. The survivors' families tended to arrange for conciliation between survivors and rapists; which was a major reason for reduced rate of punishment in rape cases. Only after the conciliation failed would they lodge complaints at the police station. In the meantime, evidences of rape were destroyed. There were cases of continued attempts at conciliation even after lodging complaints at the police station. If the rape suspects were detained, bail was secured on condition of marrying the survivors.
Other major reasons for failing to secure punishment in rape cases included delay in getting medical report and DNA certificate, lack of witness protection, weakness of the prosecutors, lodging of false cases, and pressure from local politicians or influential individuals.
Rapists' Psychology
The National Inquiry found that rapists did not know that rape was a punishable offence; most of them believed that if they were caught after committing rape, they would arrange for local salish (mediation) and would be free. They also had a negative perception about women. For example, some of the rapists generalized women as greedy, selfish and deserve punishment by being raped. These rapists were rejected by girls, cheated in their love affair or in marriage, or simply being unable to win the heart of girls. Besides, drug addiction, physical needs, tendency to be involved in extra-marital affair, and curiosity were some of the main reasons that provoked them to commit rape.
Recommendations
The National Inquiry report provides fifty recommendations addressed to sixteen government ministries and departments to prevent violence against women. Some of these recommendations are restated as follows:
The NHRC sent the recommendations to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs considering it as the lead ministry to coordinate the implementation of the recommendations. It also sent the recommendations to sixteen other relevant government ministries and departments to implement the recommendations including the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, etc.
The NHRC has the Committee on Women's Rights and Violence against Women, among its thirteen thematic committees. This Committee (with members from both government and non-governmental organizations) discusses women's rights issues, arranges dialogues and seminars, and recommends specific measures to protect women's rights. Apart from this Committee, the NHRC takes into cognizance violation of women's rights cases. For example, the NHRC condemned the rape and torture of a woman in Begumganj, Noakhali, took the case suo moto and formed a fact-finding committee to probe into the incident. The committee revealed that the allegation was true and recommended exemplary punishment for the rapists. Besides, among other remarkable measures, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs installed CCTV camera in public buses to prevent sexual harassment of women as per recommendation of the NHRC.
Farhana Syead is the Deputy Director of the National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh.
For further information, please contact: Farhana Syead, National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh; Level 8, BTMC Building, 7-9 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka, Bangladesh; e-mail: farhana@nhrc.org.bd; www.nhrc.org.bd.
[1] See Comprehensive National Review Report - Beijing+30, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, September 2024, https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/b30_report_bangladesh_en.pdf; Stakeholder Report to UN Human Rights Council on Universal Periodic Review - 4th Cycle, National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh, 2022, https://nhrc.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/nhrc.portal.gov.bd/page/bd0198a2_3208_4bb9_9486_40449aad8695/2023-11-14-13-15-1dc4936ab767495ad7ecb8987b492395.pdf.