Women live a life free of violence

Students participating in a flash mob dance during student activation in Rajshahi Universityfor 16 Days of Activism, 4 December 2018, Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Photo: Fahad Kaizer

The issue

Violence against women and girls is one of the most systematic, widespread human rights violation worldwide. Violenceagainst women is a global pandemic, embedded in unequal power dynamics between women and men that is reinforced byharmful social norms or inequality under the law.

In Bangladesh, despite the progress made so far in terms of the normative and policy framework, the incidence ofviolence against women and girls is still very high:

• One in five adolescent girls between the age of 15 to 19 reported experiencing partner sexual violence^[1];
• More than 80 per cent of currently married women are abused at least once during their marriage, most often from someone they know and should trust^[2];
• More than one in four women experience sexual or physical violence^[3];
• 76 per cent female students in higher education institutions faced sexual harassment in their education campus^[4];
• Seven out of ten women (73 per cent) have experienced domestic violence at least once in their life^[5];
• Only 2.6 per cent of women took legal action for partner physical or sexual violence^[6].

Over the last few decades, the Country adopted laws and policies meant to promote gender equality and addressviolence against women and girls, such as theWomen's Development Policy, followed by theNational Action Plan in 2011, the 2009 High Court'sDirective on sexual harassment, theWomen and Child Repression Suppression Act, and DomesticViolence (Prevention and Protection) Act. Furthermore, the National Action Plan on violence against womenand children was revised and launched in November 2018.

Despite this progress, violence against women and girls is still rampant. The normative system needs to bestrengthened and implemented; there is a strong need for capacity building of institutions, coupled with educationand awareness of the drivers, types and consequences of violence against women and girls. Cooperation between the state and non-state actors, both in policy making and in-service provision, in response to violence, needs to beimproved with the aim to eliminate violence against women and to increase access of survivors to the appropriatejudiciary and other services.