No case filed in one decade

DOULOT AKTER MALA | Published: December 22, 2020 23:51:37

The existing Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act-2010 proved ineffective to shelter the distressed women in one decade due to its flaws.
It has been found that no cases had been filed in the last one decade in many districts seeking remedy for the domestic violence under the act.
Implementation of the law, framed a decade ago, is poor so far also due to lack of awareness of the implementing agencies.
Talking to the FE, a number of victims of domestic violence said they were not aware of such laws which could protect them.
Minu Begum, working as a domestic help in the city, said she left her husband after being beaten by him for five years.
Her family members advised her to tolerate for the sake of her two children but her husband divorced her at last.
In the DVPP act, the definition of 'family relationship' excludes survivors of domestic violence who are divorced.
Such lacking in the law creates an ample opportunity for the abusive husbands to bypass the law using divorce as a weapon, said a study commissioned by Action Aid Bangladesh (ABB).
The study was carried out by Taslima Yasmin, assistant professor of the Department of Law, University of Dhaka from October to December 2020 period.
The study report is likely to be unveiled next year prior to International Women's Day, 2021.
It has found the act also lacks adequate provisions for the children who are victims of domestic violence or living in an environment of domestic abuse at home.
Nuri Islam, a garment worker in Gazipur area, said she is still living with the husband despite both physical and mental tortures for the sake of her children.
Her two-year old son feels insecure at home seeing the rude attitude of his father every day, she said.
"I have nothing to do but tolerate as I cannot bear expenses like house rent and others with the wages from the garment factory," she said.
The Action Aid study has found most of the cases filed under the DVPP act with the support of the non-governmental organization (NGO), said Ms Yasmin, who conducted the study.
A district judge in the country's Noakhali area, preferring anonymity, said lawyers were yet to be sensitised about the DVPP act.
The government needs to involve the law practitioners including judges, lawyers on the process of framing such laws for its smooth implementation, he said.
"In my jurisdiction, I did not find anyone who filed a case under the act, while the rate of lodging cases under the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act-2000 is quite high," he added.
According to the 2015 survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), some 72.6 of ever-married women reported having experienced violence at the hands of their husbands in their lifetime.
Between January and September 2020, Ain o Salish Kendra's data based on news reports show that 358 women were victims of violence from their partners or family members and 183 women were murdered by their husbands.
The research team of Action Aid conducted interviews of the survivors, activities, representatives from the National Legal Aid offices, legal aid NGOs and other service providers; Judges, lawyers, police, and District and Upazila Women Affairs Officers.
It has also analyzed a total of 70 Court Orders under the DVPP Act, collected from the Judicial Magistrate Courts in Jessore. Other than Jessore, 20 case records containing court orders, petitions, notice, etc. had been collected from five other districts- Sylhet, Khulna, Kushtia, Barishal, and Dhaka.
In a number of districts, the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court (CJM) had officially provided the research team with information of not having a single case filed under the Act in the past 10 years, for example - the CJM Courts of Bhola and Sherpur.
In the CJM Court of Barishal, according to the official record supplied by the Court officers, there had been only one petition filed in that Court in the last 10 years under the DVPP Act, which was still pending for disposal.
However, the team has found some petitions in Sylhet, Jashore, and Dinajpur which are mostly persuaded by NGOs, said Ms Yasmin.
During the research, all of the survivors, except one, shared that they were not aware of such a law.
In the majority of cases of violence, the survivor would remain silent and tolerate the abuse without reporting anywhere, until it reached to severe form of physical torture, or until the survivor is denied access to the conjugal residence or the husband had remarried, Ms Yasmin said.
Commonly in such cases the victim seeks criminal sanction against the husband as a last resort and generally, cases would be filed under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 2018 and the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 complaining of physical torture for dowry demands, she said.
Taslima said the DVPP act has the provisions to protect the victims of domestic violence but did not specify what would be the punishment in case of violation of the order
Morium Nesa, manager, women rights and gender equity of AAB said they would place a recommendation on bringing necessary amendments to the act on the occasion of International Women's Day-2021.
doulot_akter@yahoo.com