Bangladesh Organization for Learning and Development (BOLD) and Women Empowering Women (WEW) jointly held a webinar titled "Rise of Domestic Violence against Women in Bangladesh during Covid-19 Pandemic."
The webinar was held on Friday, said a press release.
The discussants were Rubaiya Khan, psychosocial counselor, founder and lead counselor of Reflection, founder and facilitator Anandajatra, Sadia Afrin, independent researcher, former research investigator, Icddrb, Sayeda Ferdous Ahmed, lawyer at the Supreme Court and founder chairman of Justice Vision Bangladesh, and Arifa As Alam, program coordinator, Acid Survivors Foundation.
It was moderated by Ismat Jahan Lissa, founder of Women Empowering Women and chair of women leadership development committee at BOLD.
The participants discussed about the root causes of the sharp rise of domestic violence against women in Bangladesh during Covid-19 pandemic period.
They also discussed about what emergency course of actions can be taken to address the issue giving more priority and what can be done to challenge the status quo, as example break the social acceptance of violence against women and enhance the process of gender equality in family, community and society and make Bangladesh safer place for women.
Among the suggestions made by the discussants, one of those included continuous awareness building programs to keep people informed about the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection). Act, 2010, role of law and enforcement of the country in protecting women’s rights and in addressing the domestic violence against women, the victim support facilities, services and solutions of Govt and NGOs etc. in Bangladesh.
Rapid actions of law enforcement team is required in emergency cases during the pandemic, they also opined.
The health sector needs to play a vital role in preventing violence against women during this pandemic, helping to identify abuse early, providing victims with the necessary treatment and referring women to appropriate care, said one of the discussants.
An integrated media campaign covering electronic, print and film media that portrays domestic violence as unacceptable is the need of the hour, said another.
The community health workers need to be engaged to build awareness by creating and disseminating materials and innovative audio-visual messages, which project a positive image of girl child and women in the society.
The survivors of domestic violence can be involved in program planning and implementation in order to ensure accessibility and effectiveness, the suggestions included.
