Quest for justice turns too costly

Women in rural areas have to bribe police and court officials between Tk 300 and 40,000 at different stages of the cases they file for repression on them, a TIB study has found.

Also, they have to pay kickbacks to the officials concerned to receive services like reproductive healthcare, maternity allowance and stipend, according to the study released at the TIB office in the capital yesterday.

Even women officials in these service-providing agencies take bribes, says the study done in two unions of Gazipur and Jamalpur districts between June and October 2013.

The research is based on interviews with 66 women either victims of corruption or having knowledge about it, 13 officials of service-providing agencies and local government representatives, and group discussions with 27 women.

The main service-providing organisations in the surveyed areas include community clinics, union health centres, union parishads, union land offices, Krishi Bank and different NGOs, including Grameen Bank.

“It should not be generalised that our findings reflect the overall picture of the country, but we believe a similar situation prevails elsewhere as well,” said Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh.

“Corruption is being increasingly institutionalised. As a result, people, in this case women, are being forced to accept it as a way of life, being victims, agents and in some cases beneficiaries of corruption,” he told reporters at the TIB office.  

Sultana Kamal, TIB trustee board member, said women often became victims of corruption due to their helplessness. “However, it is not right to assume that women would not indulge in corruption just because they are women.”

Some of the interviewees also spoke of facing sexual harassments.

The study quoted a Hindu woman as saying, “The chairman said, 'I gave you a job without taking any money, don't you understand what I want?'”

The report adds: “He [the chairman] has done it not only with Hindu women but with Muslim women as well.”

Another woman seeking legal assistance said a police sub-inspector gave her an indecent proposal promising to solve all her problems.

“Some policemen in the lower tier also made similar suggestions,” the report quoted the woman as saying.

The TIB found women sometimes become victims of corruption unknowingly. Some parents bribe local government representatives or marriage registrars to marry off their underage daughters.

Referring to a village arbitration regarding a land dispute, the study quoted one woman as saying: “The chairman demanded Tk 3,000 from me to deliver the verdict in my favour. I paid the money but the verdict went against me as the other party gave Tk 5,000.”