Rifat Zafreen :
‘Oh no, what am I thinking! It cannot be, how is it possible – he is my uncle, my mother’s colleague – he addresses me ‘mother’, then why did I feel so bad and filthy while my doctor uncle used stethoscope to check my chest ?’ – Anu feels so confused and sad; she even cannot share this with anyone not even with her mother thinking what she would think of her (Anu).
The picture above is not very uncommon worldwide and particularly in Bangladesh where most of our girl children get abused and sexually harassed by the close male relatives and family members. It should be the ideal society where every girl child will be safe and secured and family must be the safest resort for them there where our girl children are even so insecure and unprotected more or less in the family. So our family and society have to be the resorts for protecting our girls from abuse, assault and harassment.
Every year days from 25 November to 10 December are dedicated to our women and girls with an aim to protect them from violence home and outside. Worldwide and countrywide though many programs are thrown and initiatives are taken at government and non government level, torture and violence against women and girls have not lessened at a significant level so far.
Our traditional outlook, attitude and perception in the society, inequality, right on wealth and resources, degradation of values, hindrance on getting justice, torture and repression are responsible and the root cause of violence against them.
These types of inhuman occurrences are happening as there is no such strong and united check in the society. On the other hand while family, which is the root of the society, should be the safe resort for our women and girls, they are getting tortured, violated physically and mentally by the near and distant family members and relatives at home first hand at many times. In this circumstance excluding some exceptions, not even family comes forward to support and stay beside our women and girls and take action against the oppressors like society.
Family also then treats the victimized as if they are separate entity without taking stern action against those violators.
This makes the family not a safe zone and protective resort for our women and girl children. So, it is our family and society and family foremost should give highest priority to act and ensure as a safe resort for our women and girls.
From the very beginning as a brooding zone family has to teach its young and little members to honor women and girls and thus practice accordingly. Family has to be made and ensured to be the safest zone and secured place for our women and girls.
There has to create a strong check and resistance against dowry, domestic violence and child marriage in the family. Raping has to be stopped. There has to take initiative to stop using raping as a social and political weapon.
Issues like rights of women have to be included in the curriculum of school, college and university in order to bring change in the prevailing attitude and perception of the society about women and girls. There needs a huge publicity of the prevailing Laws and Acts prepared for stopping violence against women and girls from the concerned body. And in the light of this, print and electronic media could be more activated.
Our youth and young generation have to be aware and play a strong and active role to resist and stop all sorts of violence on women and girls. They have to come forward to join this battle more sincerely. Practice of providing political, social and administrative shelter and prevalence to the violators has to be stopped.
In case of necessity, there has to create a separate and new Law to stop sexual harassment and abuse on women and girls. Equal rights in marriage, divorce, child guardianship and custody, and wealth and resources have to be ensured for women.
If in the custody of someone, girls and women get raped, other than having provision for proving the victimized that ‘she had got raped’, there needs to have new ruling for the rapist to prove that ‘he did not commit the offence’. Withdrawing preservation, there needs a complete enactment of the Para-2 and 16(1) (ga) of the international CEDAW Charter.
Issues of women related human rights have to be included in the training modules of the important institutes of the State, involved in directing the country along with adding the issues in the training modules of the lawyers and judges. It is very important to ensure security of the witnesses of any lawsuit. It needs to spread the activities of Victim Support Center and OCC countrywide.
Violence against women also is related to drug addiction and so exemplary punishment must be taken to the culprits involve in drug trafficking. It is the need to establish counseling centers for the male oppressors in every Zila.
Special session and discussion needs to be arranged in the National Parliament on the issue of violence against women and girl child and more over there needs to create a social check against raping, killing, acid throwing, sexual harassment, torture, repression, unlawful mandates united.
It becomes urgent to raise voice against violence on women and girls from all spheres, from individual to State level. We cannot deny, women are human beings, no separate entities.
They are our mother, sister, daughter and very near ones. We have to protect them and honor them. Media and opinion leaders have to play a very vital role in stopping violence against them.
And finally family has to be the foremost institute that must work as the safe resort for our women and above all for our girls. Family should be the first and last resort for them and we never can spare our responsibility from protecting and saving them.
(PID-Project Feature)
