23.31 Dr Nusrat Ameen, in her book entitled ‗Wife Abuse in Bangladesh: An Unrecognised Offence‘,362 published by the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) in 2005, observed that ‗Wife abuse is endemic and is overtly or covertly sanctioned (p20) … Research shows that violence in the family occurs at all levels of society (p22) ... However, the practice of wife abuse is one about which there is least social awareness or outcry in Bangladesh.‘ (p27) Dr Ameen observed that the
patriarchal nature of society and of the household, especially in rural areas, permitted socially acceptable violence against women in the form of physical chastisement by a husband. A misinterpretation of religious teaching reinforced this social sanction. (p27- 36) Women often faced domestic violence not only from their husbands, but also from their in-laws. (p49) Dowry abuse also continued to lead to cases of serious physical abuse or murder and to the suicides of young married women, though the Dowry Prohibition Act came into force in 1980. (p39-45) A UNFPA report in 1997 quoted a study by the NGO Ain-O-Shalish Kendra (ASK) in saying that up to 50 per cent of all murders in Bangladesh had been attributed to marital violence. Evidence suggested that only a minor proportion of such cases reached the courts and resulted in
convictions. (p49-51)
Note: Although the above source was published in 2005, it is an authoritative study; the nature of domestic violence in Bangladesh is unlikely to have changed significantly since 2005.
23.32 Mst. Taslima Khatun and Khandaker Farzana Rahman stated in a paper of November 2012, published in the Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology:
‗Although domestic violence includes child abuse, parent abuse and in-law abuse committed by male aggressors on female victims, available information from research
361 UN Secretary-General‘s Database on Violence against Women: Bangladesh
http://sgdatabase.unwomen.org/countryInd.action?countryId=192 Accessed 30 July 2013
362 Ameen N: ‗Wife Abuse in Bangladesh: An Unrecognised Offence‘, book published in 2005 by the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers‘ Association. ISBN 984 05 1742 2 (Hard copy)
indicated that the ―most common type of violence in Bangladesh against women is domestic violence perpetrated by intimate partners or ex partners‖
‗Most of the women in Bangladesh experience [domestic violence] in their lives which takes different forms of abuses, i.e. physical (slapping, beating, ...), psychological (threats of abandonment or abuse, to take away custody of the children, verbal aggression and humiliation, threats of killings), sexual abuse (coerced sex through threats, intimidation, ...), economic (denial of funds, ..., controlling access to health care and employment) etc.
‗Women in Bangladesh face violence for very trivial matters ... In a study, it is revealed that the most frequently mentioned reasons for violence included questioning the husband in day-to-day matters, failure of the wife to perform household work
satisfactorily, economic hardship of the family, failure of the wife to take proper care of the children, not conforming to veil or other expected behavior, inability to bring money from parental home, not taking good care of in-laws and relatives, and husband‘s frustrations in relation to his various activities even dark complexion of children ...
Another most common reason in Bangladesh that initiates violence against women and many women are giving their lives from either homicides or suicides is the increasing prevalence of dowry...which is strictly prohibited [by law].
‗Women experiencing [domestic violence] or living with its consequences are under- reported because in most cases violence is considered as personal or family matter ...
[F]ears of increasing sufferings or vulnerability by the victim reduce the number of violence to be reported and even expressed to others. A significant [proportion of domestic violence] in Bangladesh is under-reported due to social stigma; women are accused of provoking the violence by their disobedience, failure as a wife, or infidelity ...
[W]omen report about [domestic violence] only when it becomes a serious problem or threat to life.
‗According to recent research by International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research- Bangladesh (2006), ―60 per cent of women in Bangladesh experience some form of domestic violence during their lives. One Stop Crisis Centre, a Bangladesh based NGO that supports women victims of violence, reveals that almost 70 per cent of sexual abuse suffered by women occurs within their own homes.‖
‗‗[Y}ounger women are more at risk of domestic violence than the older women ... Men from low socioeconomic levels have a greater probability of perpetrating violence against [wives].
‗[Domestic violence against women] is now [taken seriously] by national and international bodies due to its direct adverse consequences to women‘s physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health as well as socioeconomic consequences.‘ 363
Dowry-related domestic violence
23.33 Odhikar observed in their 2011 Human Rights Report, published in January 2012:
363 Mst. Taslima Khatun and Khandaker Farzana Rahman, ‗Domestic Violence against Women in Bangladesh:
Analysis from a Socio-legal Perspective‘, Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology. Volume 9, Number 2. 2012 (p21-24) http://www.bangladeshsociology.org/Domestic%20Violence%20against%20Women%20in%20BangladeshBEJS%2 09.2%20Final%20_new_.pdf Accessed 26 July 2013
The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 31 July 2013. 125
‗Dowry is one of the major causes of domestic violence. Women are seen as a
commodity where monetary transactions are involved with their marriage. Due to non payment of dowry many women are subjected to violence by their husband or in-laws and are even killed. Dowry is often not a one-time payment. The husbands or inlaws unlimited greed make the bride and her family more vulnerable to additional financial demands and violence.‘364
23.34 Odhikar‘s 2012 Human Rights Report, dated 12 January 2013, added:
‗Taking or giving dowry is illegal, punishable with imprisonment and /or fine according to the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1980. Sections...of the Prevention of Repression on Women and Children Act, 2000 (amended 2003) provides various punishment[s] against
perpetrators for committing dowry related crimes ... In spite of the existing law, dowry related violence has increased sharply in 2012 compared to other years.
‗Though a deep rooted patriarchal mindset and lack of awareness is behind the vicious dowry system; non implementation of laws are instigating such violence as well. The inaction of law enforcement agencies to investigate or arrest the accused and a lengthy, problematic judicial procedure inspires the accused and other potential abusers to commit such violence.
‗Between January and December 2012, 822 females were subjected to dowry related violence. Among them, four were under-aged brides. Of these women, it has been alleged that 273 were killed because of dowry, 535 were ill-treated in various other ways and 14 committed suicide over dowry demands.‘365
Legal remedies for domestic violence
23.35 Mst. Taslima Khatun and Khandaker Farzana Rahman366 noted that the Domestic Violence (Protection and Prevention) Bill was approved by Parliament in October 2010 and came into force in December 2010. The Act defines ―domestic violence‖ as ―abuse in physical, psychological, economical and sexual nature against one person by any other person with whom that person is, or has been, in family relationship, irrespective of the physical location where that act takes place‖. (p26) The Act provides that a complaint can be made, not only against a spouse; but also against ‗any adult person who has been in a family relationship with the victim‘ or ‗relatives of the husband or intimate male partner including his male and female relatives.‘ (p27) The Act provides for the protection of a victim or potential victim by way of a Protection Order passed by a court, breach of which is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 24 months and a fine.
The Act states that ‗the Order Enforcement Officer shall arrange shelter for the victim‘
and, if necessary, for the children, although the authors noted in 2012 that ‗the
traditional shelter homes provided by NGOs and Government do not have the proper empowerment programs for the victim‘ The Domestic Violence Act also provides for victims to claim compensation for injury or damages.367
364 Odhikar, Human Rights Report 2011: published 7 January 2012
http://odhikar.org/?p=1702#./?p=1702&_suid=137724384873804053409150643101 Accessed 29 July 2013
365 Odhikar, Human Rights Report 2012, dated 12 January 2013 (p88)
http://odhikar.org/?p=5075#./?p=5075&_suid=137699143430306589730761989163 Accessed 3 June 2013
366 Ibid
367 Mst. Taslima Khatun and Khandaker Farzana Rahman, ‗Domestic Violence against Women in Bangladesh:
Analysis from a Socio-legal Perspective‘, Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology. Volume 9, Number 2. 2012 (p27-28)
23.36 Dr Nusrat Ameen noted in her book, ‗Wife Abuse in Bangladesh: An Unrecognised Offence‘, that the criminal laws under which perpetrators of (domestic) violence were prosecuted included the Penal Code and the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act (2000), as amended in 2003.368 The USSD 2012 report recorded that
‗The law prohibits rape and physical spousal abuse but makes no specific provision for spousal rape.‘369
23.37 Dr Ameen related that there were several agencies working to assist women in abused situations. Typically, an agency would serve a notice to the husband to appear at the agency for mediation, following a written complaint made by the wife. If the husband did not attend, the agency had a right to issue a warrant and to seek help from the police. If mediation failed to work, the case could be taken up in court by family lawyers provided by the agency, who would normally handle the case free of charge. (p83-84) Research suggested that most abuse victims are reluctant to report their cases directly to the police and, of those who did, most were not given adequate assistance. There was a widely-held belief that police officers ‗did not like to become involved in family matters‘
and were likely to ask the parties to reconcile matters between themselves. (p84 & 100) There was also often a reluctance by victims to inform doctors of the injuries they had sustained. (p84-85) Dr Ameen noted that women in villages commonly sought
arbitration through Shalish (local mediation councils) – even though the arbiters are usually the ‗local male elite‘ and a Shalish decision was not binding. (p85-86)370 See Section 11: Legal aid
23.38 The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women also noted in her end-of- mission statement of 29 May 2013:
‗Despite measures such as the establishment of the Special Tribunal on Violence against Women and Children, I have received several testimonies demonstrating how women are reluctant to use the justice system and often opt for alternate dispute resolution (ADR).The reasons articulated include delays in court procedures, fear of retaliation, lack of female friendly police officers, and social stigma ... There is also a tendency for women to ―compromise‖ on their cases in view of the prolonged delays experienced through the judicial process.‘371
See: Shelter and welfare support to woman victims of violence
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