A Round-table of Dissent

Sanyat Sattar

World Heath Organisation (WHO) in Germany recently has unfolded a shattering picture of Bangladesh. It says that every hour a girl is raped here. A recent United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report says that Bangladesh tops the world charts when it comes to violence committed against its women by men.

Bangladeshi women are the most battered in the world, according to the UNFPA report, with 47 percent of women assaulted by men. The violence in Bangladesh takes many forms - from wife beating, maiming by acid, rape, to physical and verbal harassment. According to everyday newspaper reports, husbands, boyfriends and men who propose to women but are rejected, often resort to assault.

In Bangladesh, a country where both the prime minister and opposition leader are women, nearly 50 percent of murder cases against women are linked to marital violence, often due to the inability to meet dowry demands.

On 13th July the "Amendment Bill for the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000" was passed in the parliament, which includes and also excludes a few segments of the previous act. Ananya, a well reputed fortnightly recently organised a round table meeting at the magazine premises, where members of different women-right organisations took part. Presided by Tasmima Hossain, chief editor of Ananya, the meeting covered debates on the amendment bill, which is meant to uphold the rights of women. In her welcome speech Tasmima Hossain says, "Despite the fact that the bill has already been passed in the Jatiyo Sangsad there is still scope for discussion about the Act. It contains a few absurdities which have been time and again been pointed out, but the government has not paid any heed to it.

The Act in one of its segments has excluded the term 'indirect participant' related to the crime of demanding dowry, which might allow criminals to escape trial. However, Advocate Salma Ali from Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association is of the opinion that in few of the cases there are many people who are actually not responsible for the crime, and so should not be thus bracketed with the rest by using the term 'indirect participant'. Ayesha Khanam, General Secretary of Mahila Parisad, says that as both 'direct' and 'indirect' terms cannot serve the purpose, a new term 'all related criminals' should be appropriate to meet the purpose.

In the section of the Act that deals with child rape, the age limit for a girl to be considered as a child has been changed from 14 to 16 in the new amendment. But recent case studies show that girls are sexually assaulted or raped even before their puberty. In this case the idea of child or adult age distinction hardly matters at all.

section of the Act that deals with child rape, the age limit for a girl to be considered as a child has been changed from 14 to 16 in the new amendment. But recent case studies show that girls are sexually assaulted or raped even before their puberty. In this case the idea of child or adult age distinction hardly matters at all.

The amendment bill includes yet another new segment, where it says that the state will bear all responsibilities of the unwanted children who are the outcome of rape. But there are few other things which should have been stated clearly. "Actually what kind of responsibility the state will bear, is not clarified anywhere. And who on earth will be the guardian of the poor child? The rapist? asks Advocate Elina Khan from Bangladesh Manobadhikar Bastobayon Sangstha. All discussants strongly voiced against the segment where the father is termed to be the only person to give a child his/her identity.

Strangely enough, the reformed Act has totally ignored the act of sexual harassment. This crime is the cause of deaths of many helpless girls in our country, who commit suicide after being teased or chased after by perverted men. In this kind of criminal act the constitution should have strong laws against the criminals who are responsible for the terrible consequences. Kamrun Nahar from Naripokhkho expresses, "when a girl commits suicide no one tries to find out the real cause of the death. This kind of death is more vicious than a murder."

Barrister Tania Amir finds the entire bill a form of discrimination against women. She asks what is the use of a law if it increases the insecurity of women in the society after all? According to her it humiliates women.

Advocate Shahdeen Malik and Salma Binte Kader, Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice are the members of the drafting committee of the Amendment Bill 2000.

The acts of violence that are being perpetrated against women in the country are committed both in public and in private: rape, acid throwing, fatwah, violence due to non-payment of dowry, etc. Social reasons and legal loopholes are sources of violence against women in Bangladesh. The so-called religious and cultural norms, discriminatory and defective laws, denial of appropriate property rights to women, non-implementation of international instruments relating to women's rights, and other related factors have created a negative environment for women. These factors consequently rendered the women vulnerable to various forms of violence and exploitation.

Bangladesh has several laws specifically protecting women's rights to life and safety and severely punishing the offenders. Besides the Women and Children Rrepression Prevention Act 2000 there are The Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Dowry Prohibition Act; among others, all contain provisions punishing those who commit any sort of crime against women. There is no separate legislation for domestic violence. No measure has been taken to strictly implement laws protecting women. As a result, crimes perpetrated against women have increased. In this turbulent social condition Ananya has taken a laudable initiative to point out a few key facts of the society and figure out ways to preserve the rights of women and children through the constitution.