Violence Against Women in Bangladesh:

Women in Bangladesh have had to face violations to their human rights year after year. These acts of violence are both public and domestic - rape, acid-throwing, fatwa, violence due to non-payment of dowry, etc. In comparison to 1997, studies carried out by Odhikar show that the year 1998 saw a marked increase in the crime of rape- perpetrated both by the ordinary citizen as well as members of the police force- and an increase in deaths caused by acts of domestic violence created by dowry demands. (In fact, crimes against women have increased in the last 3 years. Reports prepared by the organisation Ain-O-Salish Kendra show that the total number of reported incidents have more than doubled from 628 in 1995 to 1533 in 1997. (Human Rights in Bangladesh 1997. University Press Ltd P. 99). In 1999, the Documentation Unit at Odhikar found that there has not been much change in the number of crimes against women.

Acid throwing seems to have increased dramatically from 101 reported incidences in 1998 to 153 in 1999. Acts of custodial rape perpetrated by law enforcing agents remain in the two-figure bracket - the youngest victim of such brutality being eight year old Sharmin Akhtar of Chandpur (reported on 14.9.99). The number of women raped - either by one person or a gang- is still high as well. Despite the attempt to improve women's lot in the public sphere, the government has done little to help them in the domestic front, where they face the most violence - both physical and mental. The reported number of women who have been murdered due to dowry related violence is a high 67. Almost all the women were killed by their husbands. No measures have been taken to strictly implement laws protecting women. Due to this crimes perpetrated against women have increased. There is yet to be a Domestic Violence Act and the crime is still seen more as a social norm than a legal matter.

Violence Against Women: 1999

Odhikar concentrates it's monitoring of violence against women in four specific areas - rape, rape in police custody or 'custodial rape' (This is part of Odhikar's investigation and research into police brutality and prison reform.), violence due to dowry demands and acts of flinging acid on the person of a woman or 'acid-throwing'.

Despite the laws protecting women's rights and punishing offenders of crimes against women. (The last such decision pased by parliament was the Repression against Women and Children Bill, in 1998, as an amendment to the Repression Against Women and Children (Special Provisions) Ordinance 1995.) there is, as has been stressed, a serious lack of implementation and a quantity of disinterest show by responsible government agencies.

i. Rape:

Rape can be classified as one of the most heinous crimes committed against the body and mind of a woman, regardless of her age. Unfortunately, such a crime has escalated in number, in the last year.

From the first of January to the 31st of December 1999, Odhikar documented 835 cases of rape. This number is not much less than what was documented in 1998. Odhikar, through its documentation of such cases, has realised that the age group most violated is in the six to fifteen year bracket. In October 1999 alone, reports say that 14 female children between 6 and 10 years and 11 female children between 11 and 15 years were raped.

In September 1998, the country was shocked at the revelations of rape incidents in Jahangir Nagar University - one of the seats of highest education in the country. Thirteen students, all either leaders or activists of the Bangladesh Chattra League, the student fraction of the Awami League, were accused of this crime and other forms of sexual harassment. According to the Fact Finding Committee Report, over 177 students were raped in 20 different areas on the campus of the university. According to the said report, "many of them were raped several times, some were gang-raped and some were even forced to leave the campus after the incidents".

After a Syndicate meeting, one of the accused was expelled for life and the other six awarded various punishments involving expulsion for either two or three years. Six accused abettors were acquitted due to lack of evidence and two served with warning notices. Another accused rapist was awarded a 'suspended expulsion' for one year. Despite pressure from various quarters, including some Jahangir Nagar University teachers, the university authorities refused to file cases against the accused and the Vice Chancellor stated that the victims were free to file cases against the alleged perpetrators. However, as we reach the end of 1999, there has been no criminal action taken against the criminals and, as always, the matter has been allowed to gather dust.

ii. Rape in Police Custody / Rape by Police:

Another aspect of rape that has come to light in the recent years is the rape of women brought into police custody or who are put into the 'safe custody' of police stations and jails. Police may arrest women randomly on grounds of suspicion of prostitution or any whim of fancy.

According to Odhikar findings, there were ten reported incidents of 'police rape' in 1998. One of the victims was as young as eight years while a majority of them were in their early teens (between 10 and 15 years of age).

iii. Acid Throwing:

Despite special provisions in the Penal Code and other specified laws protecting women, the crime of throwing acid on another's face and person continues. Odhikar documented 101 such cases in 1998. And a record 153 cases in 1999. A majority of the victims fall in the 11-15 and 16-20 year old brackets.

In a majority of the cases the main reasons for the perpetration of such crime was jealousy, refusal of advances and revenge after an argument.

iv. Dowry Deaths:

The demanding, giving and accepting of dowry is an offence under the laws of Bangladesh. The practice, however, still prevails in many sections of our society. One of the reasons for this persistence in demanding dowry is the rising unemployment among young males, specially in rural Bangladesh. Because the dowry provided is considered an 'investment' or capital for helping the groom on his way to earning money (for example, opening a business, going to the Middle East to find a job, etc.) it has become a very common demand and the bride's parents become the sole supplier.

Often, the bride's parents cannot contribute the whole amount of dowry at once and pay some of it at the wedding ceremony. Later on, the demand for the rest becomes intense, and it butt of the brutality which follows a delayed payment is the bride - now the wife. The issue of dowry is probably the most common source of domestic violence in rural Bangladesh, where not only the husband but his parents and relatives take part in reminding the wife that the remaining payment is still due. The incidents of murder or attempts to murder are regular items in the country's daily papers.

In 1999, Odhikar recorded a total number of 67 reported deaths due to dowry demands. All the victims were housewives, the youngest being only sixteen years of age (There have been reports of four sixteen year old women who have been killed due to dowry demands in 1999.) - a fact in itself illegal, as the age of marriage for a woman in Bangladesh is above eighteen years.

Conclusion:

It is not enough that women are still discriminated against in the home, in the workplace and in the provisions of certain statutory laws (family laws and nationality laws, for example). They also have to face violence, sometimes leading to their death.

The increase in crimes against women and acts of violence against them raises serious questions regarding the effectiveness, transparency and accountability of those responsible for maintaining law and order in the country. It shows to what extent the law and order situation has deteriorated - specially in the case of the inhuman crime of rape perpetrated on children. It is also disturbing to note that even acts of violence against women, perpetrated by persons who are well known and thus identifiable, slip out of the grasp of the supposedly 'long arm of the law' - for example in the cases of the incidents in Jahangir Nagar University, in the small, closed societies in rural areas of Bangladesh and in the home where domestic help are raped by either the owner or other male members of the house hold.

For Odhikar - A Coalition for Human Rights.