Dowry major cause for violence against women: Study
Thursday, 12 May 2011
FE Report
Dowry is still the prime reason for violence against women in Bangladesh despite the government's multi-pronged efforts to eliminate the social vice, says a study. The study showed 24.4 per cent of the poor women are victims of physical violence by their partners for dowry. It also said 19.9 per cent women are tortured for ill-temper of their husbands, 15.3 per cent for being in conflict with female members of the in-laws house, 14.2 per cent for being provoked by the male family members, and 12 per cent for multiple marriages of their husbands. The study titled "Domestic violence against women: how much it costs the Bangladesh society" was conducted by CARE Bangladesh, and funded by USAID to assess the costs of violence against women at the individual and family levels in rural areas. The findings of the study were revealed at a programme at JATRI office at Karwan Bazar in the city Wednesday. Julia Ahmed, team leader of Cost of Violence Against Women (COVAW) project, Tahera Yeasmin, project director of COVAW, and Jamil Ahmed, chief executive of JATRI, among others, were present on the occasion. The objective of the study was to asses the direct costs, incurred both by the victims and the perpetrators, from incidents of domestic violence. The study was conducted at the working areas of CARE Bangladesh - 24 villages of Sunamganj, Dinajpur and Tangail during January-June of 2010. Information was collected from a household survey to capture the grassroots realities where domestic violence had taken place. The study covered direct monetary and time costs of violence per year, which includes medical and other costs of the victims and their families, costs of the perpetrators and their families, and loss of income due to violence. The average monetary cost each family incurred for violence was Tk 11,180 per year, and the total cost the nation had to bear was Tk 81.05 billion (8,105.66 crore) or 1.18 per cent of GDP. Income loss because of violence per year includes income loss of the victims and their families, income loss of the perpetrators and their families, amounting to about Tk 8.0 million. The total loss on income of the nation is Tk 59.79 billion (5,978.90 crore) or 0.87 per cent of GDP. The total cost of violence for the nation is Tk 14.0 billion (14,084.56 million) per year or 2.05 per cent of GDP. Without stronger actions and efforts to eradicate dowry, programmes to lift the extreme poor out of poverty may actually increase the vulnerability of households, with the potential to push them deeper into extreme poverty than before, experts said.
Dowry is still the prime reason for violence against women in Bangladesh despite the government's multi-pronged efforts to eliminate the social vice, says a study. The study showed 24.4 per cent of the poor women are victims of physical violence by their partners for dowry. It also said 19.9 per cent women are tortured for ill-temper of their husbands, 15.3 per cent for being in conflict with female members of the in-laws house, 14.2 per cent for being provoked by the male family members, and 12 per cent for multiple marriages of their husbands. The study titled "Domestic violence against women: how much it costs the Bangladesh society" was conducted by CARE Bangladesh, and funded by USAID to assess the costs of violence against women at the individual and family levels in rural areas. The findings of the study were revealed at a programme at JATRI office at Karwan Bazar in the city Wednesday. Julia Ahmed, team leader of Cost of Violence Against Women (COVAW) project, Tahera Yeasmin, project director of COVAW, and Jamil Ahmed, chief executive of JATRI, among others, were present on the occasion. The objective of the study was to asses the direct costs, incurred both by the victims and the perpetrators, from incidents of domestic violence. The study was conducted at the working areas of CARE Bangladesh - 24 villages of Sunamganj, Dinajpur and Tangail during January-June of 2010. Information was collected from a household survey to capture the grassroots realities where domestic violence had taken place. The study covered direct monetary and time costs of violence per year, which includes medical and other costs of the victims and their families, costs of the perpetrators and their families, and loss of income due to violence. The average monetary cost each family incurred for violence was Tk 11,180 per year, and the total cost the nation had to bear was Tk 81.05 billion (8,105.66 crore) or 1.18 per cent of GDP. Income loss because of violence per year includes income loss of the victims and their families, income loss of the perpetrators and their families, amounting to about Tk 8.0 million. The total loss on income of the nation is Tk 59.79 billion (5,978.90 crore) or 0.87 per cent of GDP. The total cost of violence for the nation is Tk 14.0 billion (14,084.56 million) per year or 2.05 per cent of GDP. Without stronger actions and efforts to eradicate dowry, programmes to lift the extreme poor out of poverty may actually increase the vulnerability of households, with the potential to push them deeper into extreme poverty than before, experts said.