We have a law but domestic violence is not falling

It is a shocking reality that domestic violence, a malaise that we have been plagued with for decades, intensified in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. According to Ain O Shalish Kendra, 554 women were victims of domestic violence last year, with 337 being killed by their husbands and 71 by the husband's family members. When it came to filing cases for incidences of domestic violence, the number was only 35. This is despite the existence of a law that specifically ensures a victim's right to get assistance from law enforcement officers as well as the required medical facilities and legal services. The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act—the result of a collaboration between women rights activists and the government, provides protection orders for victims, the right to reside in the marital home, temporary custody of children and recovery of personal assets. But despite such a progressive law, very few women have taken recourse to it, according to a report in this daily yesterday. Why is this so?

Most women do not even know that such a law exists or that it is possible to get legal redress or protection when domestic abuse occurs. Given the frightening increase in domestic violence, thousands of regular incidents of domestic violence are going unreported, which is all the more worrying.

A study mentioned in our report found that not a single case has been filed under this law in Bhola and Sherpur for the last 10 years. In other districts, the number of cases filed is also very low.

What is most revealing is that the study found, after interviewing some survivors of domestic violence, that they were not told to file a case under the act by the police, local government representatives or even local NGOs when they reached out for help. This is despite the fact that upazila women affairs officers have been made Enforcement Officers responsible for reporting domestic violence to the court and helping the victims get legal aid, sending them to a safe shelter and other support services.

In reality, the enforcement officers are unavailable for immediate support because they are overburdened with other duties and also do not have enough resources to give that support due to budget constraints.

Thus, while we have the law and provisions to support and protect victims—it is all only on paper with no implementation from the various quarters concerned. The government must take decisive steps to activate the law it has enacted and ensure that the mechanisms it has placed, in theory at least, are efficient in providing the support for which they were intended. Women must have shelters they can go to; the police and local administration, especially the union parishad members, must help the victim in every way possible; and there must be budget allocations so that enforcing officers can provide support to the victims. Most of all, women must be made aware that this law exists and the legal process must be accessible for women, so that they can get redress for the violence they have been subjected to. Domestic violence is an abhorrent crime that debilitates women, children, the family and society as a whole. We must all work together to put an end to it.