VIOLENCE AGAINST UNDER PRIVILEGED WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES IN BANGLADESH

Authors

  • Brigadier General Muhammad Quamruzzaman, ndc, psc, G NDC

Keywords:

under privileged women and children, VIOLENCE

Abstract

Violence against under privileged women and children is a common occurrence in most societies whether the violence is physical, psychological, sexual or economic. In Bangladesh it is a daily and often deadly fact of life for millions of women and girl children dwelling in slums of Dhaka city. Their inferior status can be traced to the patriarchal values entrenched in the society which keep women subjugated, assigns them a subordinate and dependent role, and prevents them from accessing power and resources. As a result violence against women and girl children is viewed as a normal phenomenon even from the women’s perspective. Despite constitutional guarantees of gender equality and legislative and other affirmative interventions, the status of slum women and girl children of Dhaka city is on the whole dismal. Almost from womb to tomb they suffer multiple forms of violence including domestic violence, rape, dowry deaths, sexual harassment, suicide, forced marriage, trafficking and other psychological and financial oppressions. Indiscriminate violence in slum is one of the most visible social issues which seriously undermine the overall development and progress in Bangladesh.  Concerned Ministries are working in coordination with each other to ensure basic human rights of the marginalized people of the society which very much include the slum dwellers. Dhaka City Corporations, both North and South have development agenda for slums though very inadequate. The NGOs are working hard with specific agenda for the slum people. The patriarchal dominance, poverty, illiteracy, socio-cultural backwardness, religious misinterpretations, superstitions, mistrust, early marriage, polygamy are some of the causes and concerns of violence. Researchers have identified home to be the breeding ground of violence and hence elimination of violence should start from there. The mindset of slum women and girl children are to be changed before everything. They are submissive, shy of and mostly acceptable to violence which is detrimental to elimination process. The awareness campaign to earn their right and the welfare agenda to help them to stand on their own feet must be focused. To change the mindset of the male perpetrators educational programmes must be catered in all institution and in all action plan, the male and the boys must be integrated to form opinion against violence along with people from all walks of life of the community to build a violence free Bangladesh.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ain O Shalish Kendro (ASK), Annual Report 2013.

Bangladesh Urban Health Survey 2006.

BBS (2013), Chapter 4: Violence Against Women by Partners, Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Annual Report 2011.

BRAC Bangladesh Annual Report 2014.

Declaration of Elimination of Violence against Women, 1993.

Dr. Bilkis Begum, Coordinator, One Stop Crisis Centre, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka.

Fikreeu, F.F. and L.I. Bhatti (1999) Domestic Violence and Health of Pakistani Women, Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics 65 (1999):195201.

GoB (2000), Multi-Sectoral Programme on Violence Against Women (2000 – 2016), Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

GoB (2000). The Suppression of Violence Against Women and Children Act, 2000.Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Bangladesh.

GoB (2002). The Acid Control Act, 2002.Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Bangladesh.

GoB (2010). The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act, 2010. Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Bangladesh.

GoB (2011), Constitution of The People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 2011, Articles 27, 28.4 and 31.

GoB (2013), Multi Sectoral Programme on Violence Against Women : Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

GoB (2008), MSPVAW Baseline Survey 2008 : Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

GoB (2014), Dhaka North City Corporation Slum Census, BBS 2014.

GoB (2015), Social Welfare and Slum Development Department, Dhaka North City Corporation, Power Point presentation, July 2015.

ICDDR,B (2010): ICDDR,B – Naripokkho (Safia Azim) Joint Survey - October 2010.

Manusher Jonno Foundation (2014), Annual Report 2013, Dhaka: Manusher Jonno Foundation.

Radford. Jill, Melissa Friedberg and Lynne Harne ed. (2000), Women Violence and Strategies for Action, Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Sagar. Rajiv (2011), Violence, Law and Women’s Rights in South Asia, New Delhi: Cyber Tech Publications, India.

The Sexual Harassment Against Women and Children writ Petition No: 8769/2010.

The World Bank (1993), World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health, Oxford University Press, New York (1993).

The World Bank (2008), World Development Report 2008

UNICEF (2014), Hidden in Plain Sight: A Statistical Analysis of Violence Against Children, New York: United Nations Children’s Fund.

United Nations (2006), Ending Violence Against Women from Words to Action, New York: United Nations.

United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment Number 13, 2011.

Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 2010.

WHO (2013), Responding to Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence Against Women, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

World Health Organization (2005) WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women, Geneva, Department of Gender and Women’s Health, WHO.

http://www.mahilaparishad.org, Accessed on 26 February 2015

http://www.bnwlabd.org, Accessed on 27 February 2015

http://www.safeprojectbd.org/who-we-are/icddrb, Accessed on 04 March 2015

http://www.aparajeyo.org, Accessed on 06 March 2015

Published

2016-12-30

How to Cite

Brigadier General Muhammad Quamruzzaman, ndc, psc, G. (2016). VIOLENCE AGAINST UNDER PRIVILEGED WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES IN BANGLADESH. NDC E-JOURNAL, 15(2), 17-45. Retrieved from https://ndcjournal.ndc.gov.bd/ndcj/index.php/ndcj/article/view/179