Govt must have zero tolerance: Ayesha Khanam
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad yesterday placed an 18-point recommendation including holding trials of all rape cases under the speedy trial tribunal, to prevent repression against women and girls.
The women's rights body placed the recommendations at a press conference at its auditorium in the capital, marking International Women Repression Resistance Fortnightly and World Human Rights Day-2018.
It recommended a stop to giving shelter to rapists and sexual abusers socially and politically, and introducing a website where victims can lodge complaints.
The Parishad also recommended implementing the High Court verdict that banned the “two-finger test” of a rape victim and implementing the Pornography Control Act-2012.
Ayesha Khanam, president of the Parishad, said patriarchal mindset and discriminatory laws are at the root of violence against women in Bangladesh. Criminalisation of politics also impacts such violence, she added.
“If the state does not take zero tolerance policy against repression of women, this degeneration cannot be resisted,” she said.
At the press conference, Advocate Maksuda Akhtar read out a written statement, while the Parishad's General Secretary Maleka Banu also spoke.
16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM
According to UN Women, from the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, to Human Rights Day on December 10, the “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” campaign is a time to galvanise action to end violence against women and girls around the world.
As part of the globally observed campaign, a daylong fair was held at Cirdap in Dhaka yesterday. State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki inaugurated the fair as chief guest. It was organised by Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in association with UNFPA and UN Women, Bangladesh.
According to the VAW (violence against women) survey 2015, conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), three out of four ever-married women (73 percent) experienced some form of violence by their husbands.
Among those women and girls, only 2.6 percent took legal actions while the rest did not due to fear of their dignity, privacy, confidentiality, security and protection from harm or retribution.
“In order to eliminate gender-based violence, we have to nurture our girls properly. We have to stop dominating their choices, dreams and visions. They should be given the freedom to be their own person and should be taught to be strong and independent as opposed to being shy and submissive,” said Nasima Begum, secretary of the ministry, at the event.
Comments