The number of incidents of women’s repression is on the rise and the law on domestic violence is yet to come into force even 56 days inside its enactment, marking that observance of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in the country as nothing but a farce.
Nine hundred and forty-five women and girls were raped, 133 burnt with acid and 661 became victims of dowry-related violence as of October 31, 2010 since January 6, 2009, when the Awami League-led alliance assume office.
According to statistics available with human rights organisation Odhikar, 489 were raped in 10 months of 2010 and 456 were raped between January 7 and December 31, 2009.
Fifty-three women and 23 girls were killed after rape and a woman and four girls committed suicide after being raped in 10 months. Sixty-four women and 33 girls were killed after rape and four women and four girls committed suicide after being raped in 2009.
Of the acid victims, 71 were burnt in the 10 months and 62 in 2009.
The number of the victims of dowry related violence was 342 in 10 months and 319 in 2009.
In 10 months this year, 210 women and 7 girls were killed, 102 women tortured and 21 women committed suicide after being tortured. In 2009, a total of 227 women were killed, 81 were tortured and 11 committed suicide after over dowry- related torture. According to women rights organisation Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, 4,186 women and girls became victims of violence between January 1 and September 30, 2010.
Sexual harassment and the stalking of girls have become rampant these days.
A total of 434 girls became victims of sexual harassment and 22 committed suicide after being sexually harassed between January 1 and September 30, 2010, according to the organisation.
The High Court, in a verdict on May 14, 2009, laid out guidelines against sexual harassment of women and girls made mandatory for all educational institutions and workplaces with the force a law under the mandate and within the meaning of Article 111 of the constitution.
‘These directives are aimed at filling up the legislative vacuum in the nature of law declared by the High Court under the mandate and within the meaning of Article 111 of the constitution,’ the verdict said.
The court had ordered the government to enact a comprehensive law on sexual harassment and asked it to follow the guidelines as a law till the enactment of the law.
Neither the law has as yet been enacted nor the guidelines are being followed.
The parliament on October 5 passed the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010, which was gazetted on October 12, to contain domestic violence.
Section 1(2) of the act, however, said the act would come into effect on a date to be fixed by the government through a gazette notification. No such gazette notification to make the act effective has yet been published.
The act will enable a victim to lodge complaints with a judicial or metropolitan magistrate seeking protection against any domestic violence.
The act was passed against the backdrop of widespread domestic violence in the country.
A 2005 World Health Organisation study found that at least one in every five women reporting physical abuse had never before told anyone about it.
The UN World Development Report says South Asia has the highest rate of domestic violence and Bangladesh ranks 28th in the world. Around 60 per cent of the women are subjected to torture in the hands of their husbands.
The act defines as domestic violence any physical and mental torture, sexual harassment and psychological harassment of a woman or child by any member of the family.
Any action that causes or likely to cause damage to the life, health, security or any organ of the body of a woman or child, forcing any individual to commit an offence or any provocation for doing so will constitute a domestic violence, the act says.
Any oral abuse, insult, ignorance, threat to any individual or making any utterances that may cause mental harassment and interference in individual’s freedom of movement and opinion by any member of the family will also constitute a domestic violence, according to the act.
It also says any action that may cause economic losses to any member of the family will also be considered a domestic violence.
The act asks a police officer, being informed in any manner of an incident of domestic violence, to make the victim aware that she could get redress, including legal aid and medical treatment.
The government will have to appoint an enforcement officer for every upazila, police station, district and metropolitan area to ensure enforcement of the law.
The enforcement officers will monitor domestic violence in the area under their jurisdiction and if any domestic violence is reported, the officer will inform the officer-in-charge of the police station concerned, apply to the court concerned seeking protection of the victim and arrange medical examination and treatment of the victim.
Rights organisations and non-governmental organisations campaigning for protection of women and children’s rights will be considered service organisations in order to ensure enforcement of the law, the act stipulates.
The service organisations will be entrusted to record any incident of domestic violence and to report to the court and the police station concerned and ensure safe custody of the victim in a safe home.
According to the act, any petition seeking protection of a victim can be filed with the court of judicial magistrate or metropolitan magistrate concerned by the victim or the enforcement officer.
If the court is satisfied that an incident of domestic violence has been committed or there is a possibility of such violence, it will order the accused to ensure protection of the victim and issue a notice asking the perpetrator to explain in seven days why he should not be ordered to ensure permanent protection of the victim, the act stipulates.
If perpetrators fail to comply with court orders to ensure protection of the victim, they will be punished with imprisonment for six months or with a fine of Tk 10,000 or both.
For any recurrence of the offence, the perpetrator will be punished with imprisonment for two years or with a fine of Tk 1 lakh or both, the act says.
A person will be, however, punished with imprisonment for a year or with a fine of Tk 50,000 or both for making any false complaint.
The ruling Awami League in its election manifesto for the 2008 general elections said, ‘In order to ensure women’s empowerment and equality in rights and opportunities, the Women Development Policy formulated by Awami League in 1997 will be revived… Strictest legal measures will be taken to stop oppression of women. Discriminatory laws against the interest of women will be rectified.’
The policy is yet to be framed.
The state minister for women and children affairs, Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, on Wednesday told New Age the government was working on framing the women development policy and the enactment of the law against sexual harassment.
