Domestic Violence in Bangladesh


 


 


            It is very ironic how women and children suffer so much danger where


 


they should be safest, inside their home. The people that should be protecting


 


them from any harm are those who inflict harm to them. The word ‘home’


 


became estranged to them because it is the place where terror and pain dwells.


 


            Domestic violence, or the abuse that happens inside the home by an


 


intimate partner or other family members, continues to be a global epidemic


 


maiming women and children the capacity to themselves as a whole human


 


being. Violence does not confine with the physical battering, it also dwarfs the


 


psychological, sexual and economic aspects of one’s life. Unfortunately, many


 


cases had been left unreported because tolerance and forgiveness of the family


 


members always takes place.


 


            Domestic abuse is a severe act of human rights violation. The victims’


 


lives are stolen by threat, fear and trauma. It is a challenge to all the countries


 


worldwide to end impunity for the perpetrators by legislating law that will enact


 


strong protection for the women and children and punish severely for those


 


abusers.


 


            According to the United Nations Population Fund, Bangladesh ranks


 


fourth among nations worldwide in terms of most cases of violence against


 


women. 65 percent of Bangladeshi males think that it is justifiable to beat up their


 


wives while 38 percent have no clear idea what constitutes physical violence.


 


Another 40 percent supports on keeping the female gender socially dormant. It is


 


clear how the women are treated by their male counterparts and how they play


role into the society. They are not just socially inactive, they are very well abused


 


as well.


 


            Moreover, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) observes that


 


despite  the 1997 statement issued by the United Nations Convention on the


 


Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) that the


 


Bangladesh government is questionable on legislating effective laws protecting


 


women from violence, the current situation remains awful and the abuse


 


continues.


 


            However, the status of autonomy of a woman is linked to risk of


 


experiencing domestic violence. In some rural areas that are culturally


 


conservative, a married woman who had been a member of a credit group may


 


likely to be beaten by her husband with the odds ratio of 1:3. Whereas in the less


 


conservative places, the risk of odds would be 1:6. Credit group membership


 


strengthen women’s solidarity and independence. This sense of empowerment


 


discourages husband to beat their wives, however, some men take this as an


 


insult to their egos.


 


                Multilevel analysis identifies that a husband was more likely to abuse his


 


wife if his father abuses his mother. Also, the risk of violence increases if the wife


 


is much younger and if the husband is educated beyond tenth grade. In rural


 


areas, income-earning woman is likely to be beaten while in urban areas,


 


husbands educated beyond the sixth grade were less likely to beat their wives.


 


            On the other hand, the domestic violence against women does not only


 


limit itself in physical abuse. Despite the remarkable success of the government


 


in the health and family program in terms of immunization, contraceptive


 


endorsements and reducing mortality rate among children under five years old,


 


the life expectancy of female is much lower than the make and more than 14


 


percent of pregnancy deaths are associated with injuries regarding violence.


 


Moreover, 70 percent of pregnant women suffer from nutritional deficiency while


 


67 percent do not receive prenatal care due to gender discrimination.


 


            Most women in Bangladesh do not experience their reproductive rights


 


like the concerns of fertility and sexuality. Sexual intercourse is usually with


 


coercion and violence. Early marriage often forces women to keep unwanted


 


pregnancy or to have unsafe abortion. Women’s health is in great jeopardy


 


because the basic right of health is not granted to them. 


 


            Domestic violence should be recognized as an impediment to the social,


 


cultural, political and economic growth of every country. It is not just a gender


 


discrimination issue, it is a crucial problem on how the people is culturally-


 


oriented on treating their counterparts. It should be taken for granted as if having


 


a blind eye or a deaf ear. Women play an important part of society. And


 


remember that women are not weaklings. In fact, they are very strong to survive


 


in the plague of domestic violence for so many decades.


 


 


 


 


 


References:


 


http://www.unhcr.org


 


http://centre.icddrb.org


 


http://www.hurights.or.jp


 


Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls, June 2000



Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com


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