All women must raise their voices in their respective fields to establish their rights, as cases of violence and discrimination against women continue to plague society even 51 years after Bangladesh's independence, said the speakers at a roundtable held yesterday.
Laws have been formulated to ensure women's rights, but they are inadequately enforced. Due to this failure to implement the law, the desired goal of protecting women's rights is yet to be achieved, they added.
The roundtable, titled “Women's Rights and Relevant Laws Assessment of 51 Years after Independence,” was organized jointly by Foundation for Law and Development (FLD) and Bangla Tribune at the Dhaka Reporters Unity Auditorium. Foundation for and Development Chairperson Advocate Fawzia Karim Firoze was the chief guest and presided over the event.
She said: “Despite having laws, policies and structures, women's rights are being denied. Fifty-one years of independence have passed and, despite the existence of so many laws and policies, various obstacles have to be faced in the implementation of women's rights. Also, violence against women and domestic abuse have increased manifold.”
At various institutions and public places, sexual harassment and commodification through the Internet has increased significantly. Although there are guidelines to prevent sexual abuse and harassment, they are not being followed.
Naima Haque, professor at the law department of Dhaka University, highlighted some of the complex legal issues related to women's rights and said: “Children suffer the most when a couple divorces. In family court we see more child custody cases. When a couple files for divorce, who should have custody of their children, if any? Even considering the social and emotional situation is an important aspect.”
Trials are conducted by Associate Judges, but they are not trained in family counselling matters, she added, urging to provide counselling training to family court judges.
“According to the Muslim Family Act, 1961, in the case of divorce, notice is to be given within three months. With divorce comes the issue of dowry. Even if the lock is taofis, girls will get dowry. With Khola Talaq (voluntary divorce of the woman) comes the dowry controversy. But it is given as an honour to women. If this could be done, the maintenance of the woman should be borne by the man until the second marriage. In that case it would be possible to reduce the number and reasons for divorce,” she further said.
Supreme Court of Bangladesh Advocate Molay Saha disagreed in this regard and said: “Society is changing, so it is necessary to change today. The 1961 Act needs to be changed. Most of the divorces are taking place in recent times, and girls are being blamed as the reason. But the in-laws are forcing them to get a divorce by torturing them day after day. In that case, I think it is very important to change this law. Uniform family code is also required, so that no one is subjected to unequal laws and exploited and oppressed.”
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneMentioning that it is necessary to bring divorce law in Hindu law, he said: “But it is not possible. The socialists of Bangladesh do not want that. That's because they demand that minority law be recognized first. First the existence must be fixed, then the law. We need to move forward in this matter now, so that the future generation will not be afraid to get married.”
Awami League International Affairs Secretary Dr Shammi Ahmed thinks that it is important to write all kinds of laws in Bengali as well as English.
“There are many types of laws in the country, but the law is not enforced because we are not aware of the law. Most people do not have much knowledge about law,” she said.
Emphasizing the increase in women's participation in politics, she said that society, state, and family are not above politics.
“If a woman does something good at her workplace or somewhere, the family, the people around them criticize instead of praising. After then, if a girl comes directly into politics for the welfare of the country, then she is criticized a bad girl. Again, there are many obstacles in the political field. The main reason for this is the capture trade,” the AL leader added.
“Girls are discriminated against from birth. Although it is not possible to completely eliminate this inequality, it is possible to reduce it. The participation of women in politics should be increased by overcoming the limitations. At the same time, awareness should be increased along with enforcement of the law. This should start from the family,” she further said.
Senior District Judge (Retd.) Dr Md Shahjahan said awareness is the key in access to Justice.
“Education is essential for this. If not, you cannot be vocal about your rights. Just as law enforcement is important, so is awareness. Awareness will increase only when women are educated, and women are reluctant in these matters due to various inadequacies of the justice system. Even if she is a victim of torture, she does not want to get into trouble. One of the reasons is lack of access to justice,” he said.
“Women's rights did not come just like that. They had to struggle for it. We also have to struggle. We are much better than Sanyadesha, there are many opportunities and benefits in the Women and Child Abuse Act, Muslim Family Act. But for all the problems that still exist, we have to work and struggle from our respective fields,” the judge added.
At the end of the program, Bangla Tribune Special Correspondent Udisa Islam thanked all the guests.
