‘Violence weighs heavier on indigenous women’

While violence against women increased nationally over the pandemic, the burden weighs heavier on indigenous women, said speakers at a conference yesterday. 

"While all the cameras were turned towards the sexual harassment incident of a celebrity, nobody noticed that at the same time, a Koch woman was brutally raped in Tangail," said Chanchana Chakma, member secretary of Bangladesh Indigenous Women's Network (BIWN).

Not only did the attackers rape her, but they also completely mutilated her genitals, leaving her critically injured, she said. All three attackers of the Koch woman were Bengali.

"We do not know how far the justice process will go when there is no monitoring by anyone," she added.

Falguni Tripura of Kapaeeng Foundation said even though the attackers tortured her and broke her teeth, the media's reaction and public outcry were different from when such incidents centre mainstream women.

"The situation of violence is such that when there is talk of building a five-star hotel on indigenous property, the indigenous woman is the first to feel afraid," said Jona Goswami, director at Bangladesh Mahila Parishad.

The conference titled "National dialogue on the human rights situation of indigenous women" was held at the capital's CBCB auditorium and organised by BIWN and Kapaeeng.

In 2020, as many as 62 indigenous women and children were victims of different forms of violence, and in the first six months of 2021, that figure stood at 44.

Half of those women were from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, while the other half were from plain land indigenous communities.

Indigenous women made up a large chunk of indigenous labour force, with many working in the beauty and service industry, and it is this group that have suffered the most during the pandemic, said speakers. The loss of jobs pushed the women back to their villages, where there was no income to be had.

"At home, the loss of communal lands and as a result, livelihoods, push many of the women into sex work," said Chanchana.

The speakers also spoke about how online education during the pandemic meant no education at all for indigenous students.

"Indigenous students often come to urban centres to get education. When the institutes closed, they went back to their villages. In the villages, poor or non-existent cell phone network and lack of smartphones due to poverty make them unable to attend online classes," said Mita Hajong, member of BIWN.

Aroma Dutta said for indigenous women to get access to justice and state services, it is important to have more representation of the communities among the government's own mechanism.

Nomita Halder, member of National Human Rights Commission, Sanjeeb Drong of Bangladesh Indigenous Forum, and Ujjal Ajim of Kapaeeng also spoke at the event.