A rape victim can show outward signs of physical abuse but little is done to alleviate the debilitating psychological trauma she is going through.
Rehana (not her real name), a rape victim from Dhamrai, has never opted to go for a legal battle since she was violated in 2011.
She strongly opposes the idea of lodging a case and says no victim should initiate legal proceedings as they never receive justice.
“A rape victim can recover from physical injuries but what about the mental trauma? Every day she passes in torment as people taunt her with unkind and unpleasant words,” says Rehana.
Amina (not her real name) was raped by her cousin. When her family became aware of the incident, they gave her in marriage to him, even though Amina had never come to terms with the horrors of her sexual violation.
A study on rape in Bangladesh has found that 84% of victims suffer from severe injuries resulting in unconsciousness or even death. And many victims who choose to start a legal battle fall victim to a different form of harassment when they are called to appear in the witness box.
Reshma (not her real name) from Manikganj fell mentally sick from the unpleasant questions she had to field from defence counsel of her tormentor, Shahin.
Reshma later cried her heart out and said: “I might have recovered from my physical sickness and social harassment but it was more disgraceful the way the defence counsel asked me obscene questions.”
“Not only is a girl or woman harmed physically by rape; she is also harassed socially. Her behaviour can change and she can start to hate herself and distrust others,” says Mehtab Khanom, a clinical psychologist.
“After being raped, a woman develops a number of psychological problems along with physical problems. And beyond this she is again embarrassed when she is asked filthy questions in court,” she says, adding that more should be done to consider the mental support needed by rape victims in a legal battle.
The Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2003 included a section to prevent rape victims from having to face humiliating questions during cross-examination.
Under this section, the victim is supposed to be questioned in a closed room in the presence of only the judge and the lawyers from both sides. The victim’s statement is recorded and heard again, if necessary.
But this is hardly practiced, said Fahima Nasreen, executive member of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association.
She says: “The questions defence lawyers ask the victims are very shameful, disgraceful, humiliating and objectionable. In most cases, defence counsels intentionally ask obscene questions to get some sort of pleasure.”
Sometimes they ask some questions to humiliate the victim and to try to prove that the victims are of bad character. And that is why mental support centres are necessary to rebuild their lives, she noted.
President of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad Ayesha Khanam says: “We do not have any proper clinic where these victims can go and take support. At the same time we need to make our society aware.”
Meher Afroz, state minister of ministry of women and child affairs, however said the government has support centres, one stop crisis centres and many others like that.
“We are trying to provide mental support to the victims. But this is not sufficient at all as we can only reach 50% of the victims while others are still beyond service,” she says.