A CALL TO MEN

Photo: Farzana Hossen

Runa Islam (not her real name) is the youngest of five daughters born to a poor rural farmer in Joypurhaat. Two years ago, at 22, she was married off to a grocer. Her husband was soft-hearted towards her new wife's family and hence didn't demand a dowry. This however, changed a couple of years later, when his business became dull and he fell into some debt. He asked Runa's father for a dowry of three lakh taka, which the poor father-in-law refused since he couldn't afford such a huge amount.
“After that incident he( my husband) resorted to torture. He found faults in my every step and beat me with an iron stick,” Runa says. After months-long torture, when he realised that there was no way he could get the money from Runa's family, last September he allegedly threw sulphuric acid on her face, which has left her disfigured. Ruma's mother-in-law has helped her son to escape safely and has confined her for three days. Runa says, “I thought I would die. I lost every hope of survival. May be I wouldn't have been able to talk to you today if my father hadn't rescued me from that hell.”
After that she moved back into her father's house, received treatment and filed a case against her husband. Police later arrested her mother-in-law as an accomplice in the attack, but her husband is still at large.
Runa's is a pretty common scenario in Bangladesh. A recent survey conducted by Manusher Jonno Foundation reveals violence against women is rising both in urban and rural areas. Conducted in October 2012, it covers 101 households of 91 villages to collect data on violence against women.

The research findings were presented at a roundtable discussion at the Daily Star Centre. Photo: Prabir Das

In many parts of the country women have still been made victims of domestic violence. According to the survey, 49 percent of the married women are beaten up or verbally abused for not doing what their husbands ask them to do. Shaheen Anam, executive director of MJF says, "It is not possible for us to keep an eye on domestic violence in every single household every day or to prevent such incidents from happening. That is why we need to work with village communities that will act as pressure groups to fight domestic violence."
The Domestic Violence Act which was enacted in the year 2010 to prevent violence and provide protection to women has turned out to be inadequate. About four years since the law has come into being, there has been little change in the scenario. However, the law ensures in Sections 4, 5 and 6 that after receiving a complaint, a Police Officer, Enforcement Officer or Service Provider shall inform the victim about the availability of the services including medical and legal aid services.
The Act also provides power to Judicial Magistrates to give short-term orders like protection orders, residence orders, maintenance orders and safe custody orders for the continuing protection of the survivors of domestic violence. However, the lack of information and training in the grass-root level makes the service inaccessible for some victims. This is one of the reasons why the MJF and 14 of its associated non-government organisations have designed a model to make these villages free of violence against women in the next five years.
One common demon that these organisations are trying to slay is the plethora of social taboos centring round domestic violence. In many parts of the country, till date, domestic violence is considered a 'personal, family matter' instead of taking it as gender based violence, which requires the involvement of the state. And for that reason ignorance and social perception towards domestic violence still prevail in our society.
To change the scenario the MJF and its partner organisations are planning to involve the community. Banasree Mitra Niyogi, coordinator of the MJF emphasises that the communities in these villages must demonstrate that they will actively work to raise people's awareness to domestic violence. After that another assessment will be done three years later from now to learn the improvements in the women rights situation there. She also adds 15 factors such as marriage without dowry and reduction of domestic violence.
In the present context of Bangladesh, The Domestic Violence Act 2010 is especially significant, because for the first time, a legal frame work has recognised the problem. However, even after its enactment, domestic violence remains where it was before. So much so for a country that fought a war to establish a country based on justice and equality for all.