Eighteen-year-old Amena was being harassed by some village youths on her way to school every day. Later her parents married her off to an older man at the age of 19. Her studies stopped. Her husband abused her physically and sexually from the first day of marriage.
She could not bear the level of torture, but she continued to live with her husband under the pressure of family and society.
At the age of 22, she left her husband's family and came to her father's house after her husband divorced her.
Returning to her father's house, she was subjected to severe criticizm and abuse from society, peers, and family. She could not find a situation to start a new life. The people of the village kept her almost secluded.
Dhaka TribuneThe rates of violence against women remain high in Bangladesh.
A recent report by UN Women revealed that in the last 12 months, almost two out of three (72.6%) ever-married women in Bangladesh have experienced some form of partner violence in their lifetime, and more than half (54.2%) of women have faced physical or sexual violence during their lifetime.
Amena is one of them, having been abused by her male partner. This is the case of a village in the Comilla district. Such examples can be found in thousands of villages in Bangladesh.
To prevent and, stop such violence before it occurs, the Combating Gender-Based Violence in Bangladesh (CGBV) project works in the districts of Bogra, Patuakhali, and Comilla, both at the community level and with private and public institutions.
Former caretaker government adviser Sultana Kamal said: “We have to create a culture of good humanity and belief. If we can do that, only then we will be able to reduce violence against women in numbers. Changes of various laws, there needs to change social norms and behaviours also.”
The CGBV project, funded by Global Affairs Canada, recognizes that prevention of violence requires sustained and comprehensive action at organizational and community levels.
The project will focus on primary prevention, stopping violence before it occurs through behaviour change interventions at the community level.
A knowledge-sharing event hosted by UN Women Bangladesh was held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC), which highlighted the outstanding outcomes of the CGBV project (2018-2023). The project's goal was to create practical methods for stopping violence against women (VAW) across the nation.
According to the findings, in the household and at the community level, it is necessary to create an enabling environment where women's rights are respected, and women and girls are free from violence at home, at work, at school, or in public.
Now 10,503 community members in 12 villages are aware of imbalances in power dynamics and are promoting healthier relationships and harmony in the family and society.
1 in 3 women faces violence
According to global data, nearly one in three women globally has experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence once in their lives.
Through extensive research, monitoring, impact evaluation, and innovative approaches, the project has made significant strides in promoting institutional and behavioural change, leading to a violence-free environment.
One notable outcome highlighted during the event was the Evidence (Amendment) Act 2022, as presented by the Programme Coordinator, Shrabana Datta.
She said: “Through concerted advocacy by civil society, women's rights activists, and the Rape Law Reform Coalition, which was supported by UN Women, the law now prohibits the questioning of a rape survivor's character during cross-examinations and allows the submission of digital evidence in court."
The implementation of the law is comparatively ineffective because various other clauses and various laws attached to this act have not changed yet, she added.
Women and Children Affairs Ministry Additional Secretary MD Muhibuzzaman said: “The more we involve men in these programs, the easier it will be for us to achieve equality and reduce violence. We want to work together with government, non-profit organizations, and civil society organizations. We want to involve everyone in the process of reducing violence against women.”
Furthermore, the results highlighted the institutionalization of the Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment policy in 12 public and private workplaces, the establishment of 15 complaint committees in educational, public, and private institutions, and the formation of an additional 78 committees in compliance with the High Court Directive of 2009.
Dhaka TribuneApplauding UN Women's efforts, Canada to Bangladesh High Commissioner Lilly Nicholls said: “The project was exceptional in terms of achievement in such a short period of time. We have to work in a holistic fashion, we have to work in coalition, with an intersectional approach, which means we have to include people of every gender and belief to achieve change.”
She said: “Over the five years, the CGBV project has worked with families, communities, and public and private institutions to transform mindsets and behaviours and prevent violence against women. The project has utilized globally adapted prevention models, including the community mobilization approach known as SASA! Together with the family-based prevention approach called Shomman O Shomotar Jeebon.”
UN Women Bangladesh Country Representative Gitanjali Singh said: “We need to scale up investments in prevention. The time for transformative action by all of us is now no one can remain a bystander.”
She emphasized the cost-efficiency of prevention programs based on global data. What Works to Prevent VAW global program, supported by UK Aid in 12 countries in Africa and Asia, has provided evidence of reducing rates of violence against women and girls through prevention initiatives.
UN Women, Asia and the Pacific Program Specialist Melissa Alvarado said: “This program has helped us to produce new knowledge and evidence, which would help combat VAW. We cannot leave the duty of achieving gender equality to future generations, it should be within us. We should act on it now.”
In a discussion session where Barrister Sara Hossain was the moderator, grassroots participants shared their transformative journeys, underscoring the importance of understanding the root causes of gender-based violence for effective prevention.