The plight of domestic violence

The continuing paradigm of domestic violence and other social obstacles taught the women to be empowered, especially financially. Policies were passed for women's education; seats were reserved in many professional sectors and even in parliament. While women's empowerment became another project for every other political party to attract votes in the election, very little was done to successfully put an end to domestic violence.

The untimely death of Keya, along with its social media feedback, only sets an axiomatic example of how it was only the responsibility of Keya and her parents to save her from the inexplicable inhuman abuse of her husband. In the landscape of patriarchal psychological-control and cultural dogma, the women and their families are constantly blamed- either for their own inability, or for their parents' failure to support them through this abuse. Very little focus is placed on addressing the deeply rooted patriarchy that historically upholds men's domination over women.

Without recognising the key psychological and socio-religious factors contributing to violence against women, and developing evidence-based strategies to combat them, ensuring women's safety is simply not possible.

Many scholars and theorists, over time, identified patriarchy as a social construct where 'men dominate, exploit and oppress' women. Besides, domestic violence has always been regarded as a consequence of patriarchy, and a systematic attempt to maintain male dominance both in the home and the society. Hence, without understanding the layers of longstanding patriarchy and its intertwined connection with domestic violence, attempting to end domestic violence only by means of empowering women will always remain fruitless.

During the last few decades, significant efforts have been made by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) in its attempts to promote women's rights and tackle domestic violence. Along with ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to promote women's rights, the GoB also enacted the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act, 2010 to prevent domestic violence and protect women and children.

A victim of domestic violence can apply herself, through an enforcement officer, service providing, or any other person, for remedy in any Court under whose jurisdiction the applicant-victim or respondent resides or the place where the domestic violence occurred or where the victim temporarily resides. Upon such application, the Court may issue a protection order, a residence order, a compensation or a custody order. Unfortunately, many women do not even know about that the law exists, nor do they want to come forward to take action against their own family in apprehension of losing reputation, social stigma, worries regarding children and financial dependency.

The '2024 Violence Against Women Survey' conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Bangladesh revealed that intimate partner (current or former husbands) violence remains high at 70%. In comparison, 64% of victims informed nobody about their experiences as they thought such violence was just another routine, faced by every other woman. Even many financially empowered women choose to stay in an abusive household merely because they consider such violence to be normal; all they need is just to 'adjust' to the abusive partner. In a society where such violence is regarded as a private matter and where husbands are given 'authority' to 'discipline' their wives, sharing it in public will only bring shame to the wives. Even some religious preachers endorse such violence, claiming this is permitted. Resultantly, the enactment of the said Act 2010 could hardly bring any meaningful change in women's fate. Starting from emotional abuse to physical violence to strangulation to death, women continue to remain just as vulnerable as before, despite all the rhetoric around women's empowerment.

In this backdrop, it is imperative to understand that the problem with domestic violence is a socio-psychological problem, and only legal remedies in the court or saving seats in the professional sectors will not suffice to prevent it. Without flagging the key psychological and socio-religious factors contributing to violence against women, and developing evidence-based strategies to combat them, ensuring women's safety is not possible.

The writer is lecturer at the School of Law, BRAC University.