Half the rural women face abuse

A baseline survey on domestic violence carried out by a rights-based organisation has come up with some startling results. From the data collated over 11,000 households in more than 90 villages of Bangladesh, the three most common reasons for which rural women face violence are the failure to comply with spouse's wishes, expressing their own opinion and being late in finishing daily chores. What is even more surprising is that less than five per cent of women interviewed were even aware of the fact that they had a right to express their opinion. If we are to take the survey as a true reflection of women's status in the rural heartland of Bangladesh, with more than 9 out of 10 women being ignorant of their right to speak up for themselves, it is a sorry reflection on society.
What is obvious is that society at large has very high tolerance levels on domestic violence. That it is alright for husbands to abuse their wives on the most frivolous reasons and the social tendency to look the other way speaks volumes of ignorance of what rights women are entitled to under the law. But this problem cannot be combated by the mere formulation of laws. It is a social problem and must be dealt with by raising awareness and involving village communities as a bulwark against abuse of women at household level. This is an area that requires the cooperation of state and non-state actors working closely with rural men and women to change age-old perceptions.