Violence against women Domestic Violence (Prevention) Act can protect victims

FE Report Women who are victims of any kind of violence now can demand compensation from the perpetrators under the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 using the cost analysis toolkit introduced by CARE Bangladesh, said a senior CARE official Thursday. However, the amount of the compensation has not yet been fixed by the government as the procedure is at an experimental stage. "There are various tables in the cost analysis toolkit of CARE Bangladesh. If any victim or her family members fill the tables then any direct cost involved in the violence will be visible," Dr Julia Ahmed, team leader of Cost Of Violence Against Women (COVAW) project of CARE Bangladesh, told reporters. She was speaking at a workshop on Media Engagement organised by CARE Bangladesh and South Asia Partnership (SAP) Bangladesh at the latter's office in the city. SAP sponsored the workshop under the Cost Implication of Domestic Violence, a collaborative project between CARE-BD and SAP-BD supported by USAID. Income loss of perpetrators and victims due to such violence costs Tk 59,780 million per annum. The country now has 39 laws relating to prevention of women and children repression. But the Domestic Violence Act enacted on October 12, 2010 stressed interim relief to the victims; and importance has been given to prevention of domestic violence instead of punishment. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics, 53 per cent women fall victim to domestic violence in urban areas while 62 per cent in rural areas of Bangladesh. Domestic violence costs 2.05 per cent loss of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).