Lack of recognition main cause of domestic violence

They also said victims of domestic violence tend to avoid legal actions against the offenders for lack of awareness as well.

Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) organised the meeting based on its research titled 'Domestic violence: In search of a legal framework' at the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) auditorium in the city yesterday.

Presenting the findings of the research, Advocate Sadrul Hasan Majumdar, project coordinator of BNWLA, said the study reveals that interviewed people defined 'domestic violence' as any kind of physical, mental, verbal or economic violence within domestic setting. They also identified marital rape, incest and sexual harassment in the family as domestic violence.

The study, assisted by Manusher Jonno, was conducted on 1800 people of nine different category including victims, general people, police, lawyers, doctors and social workers from Comilla, Dhamrai, Barisal, Rajshai, Kushtia and Madaripur at the union level.

The study says 68 per cent legal experts maintain that the patriarchal society is the main reason of domestic violence while 54 per cent of them consider poverty as the principle cause behind this kind of violence.

Speaking on the occasion, BNWLA Executive Director Advocate Salma Ali suggested that an easily enforceable law should be passed to resist domestic violence.

Advocate Elina Zubaidy, senior sector specialist, Human Rights and Legal Services, BRAC, also called for a new law saying "Domestic violence should not be dealt under 'Women and Children Repression Prevention Act' as a mindset has been formed that any kind of repression against women has to go under the law."

However, Advocate Monwara Begum, judge of second special tribunal of Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, suggested that domestic violence could be dealt under the existing laws.

Advocate Rehana Sultana, member of BNWLA, said some reforms should be brought under the existing laws for domestic violence.

Barrister Sara Hossain emphasised that the accountability of the responsible people should be ensured rather than demanding formulation of new law or amendment of the existing laws.

Among others, members of BNWLA and human rights activists from different organisations also spoke on the occasion.