Attacking women and violence against them are on the rise in our society. The phenomena has been appearing in different forms in various social spheres. In some cases, they are taking the form of physical and mental torture, in some cases with rapes and other forms of sexual harassments, and even in others, in the form of direct attacks.
During the month of January of this year alone, 205 women were made victims of violence, of which 67 were rapes. In February, there were 189 incidents of violence against women, of which 89 were rapes. Needless to say, these numbers are underestimates of the real situation.
Recently, an employee of Dhaka University harassed a female student on the plea that she was not properly dressed. Sexual harassment of female travellers on the metro-rail were reported in many national newspapers. And last, but not the least, the rape spree, even of children and minors, are continuing in different parts of the country.
There are several reasons behind the widespread violence and animosity against women. They include toxic patriarchy, the sense of extreme supremacy by men, the spread of extreme fundamentalism, and a rise in the culture of hatred against women. Because of such animosity, men want to snatch away women’s right to autonomy, make their voice silent, control them, and limit their self-identity.
First, toxic patriarchy manifests itself through a display of power, anger, and sexuality. Relying on the premise of men’s physical strengths, they become frenetic, devoid of reasoning, and akin to conflict and violence. As a result, men view women as obstacles to their will. Toxic patriarchy turns men into monsters and makes them women-haters.
Second, some men in general hold a sense of extreme supremacy. They think that in all aspects of life, they are superior to women and there is nothing that they cannot do. Based on this perception of men and their supremacy, they think it justifies them to treat women as second-class human beings, to mock their intellect and judgements, and to demean their merit and thoughts. The pragmatism of women and their arguments outrage these men, and as a result, they take initiatives to enchain women.
Third, the extreme fundamentalist ideas think it right to control women. They approve the authority of men over women, and they provide men with the task of moral policing. The more widespread these extreme fundamentalist ideas are in our society, the more prevalent will be the authoritarian approach of men towards women, and men’s interference over women’s rights and autonomy.
Men will then tell women what sort of clothing they can wear, direct them where women can go, and what are the things that they are allowed to do. If women violate the rule, any man because of their manhood, can interfere, harass women, and even punish them -- this is their fundamentalist logic. The spread of a culture of women-hatred will only solidify the notion of men’s supremacy and make it worse.
In the global background, women’s rights have been becoming weaker over time. Behind these weaknesses lay a number of reasons, such as erosion of democratic values and democratic processes in various countries, weaknesses of various democratic institutions, successes of opposition forces in diluting the long-term achievements of women’s movements in consensus building.
As a result, over the past 20 years, conflict-related sexual violence around the world has increased by 50% and 85% of the victims were either children or adolescents. About 53% women in at least 12 countries have faced violence through the internet or other media. Globally the violence against women and girls have alarmingly been on the rise.
But more stressful is the fact that in Bangladesh, the hatred and violence against women has given rise to a frightening situation. It seems that violence against women is no longer an exception, it has become a norm. At the same time, this has given rise to a “mob violence.”
In such contexts, a group of people can simply create a situation, which results in their ruling. Under such circumstances, the state must take the responsibility and undertake stern measures. The relevant organizations, including educational institutions, must take strong measures.
The culture of women-hatred must be tackled collectively and socially. We all must raise our voice against it to rectify the situation.
This violence happening in Bangladesh today is not only violence against women, but violence against humanity, violence against autonomy, and a threat to the goodness of people.
The struggle to tackle these concerns is a struggle for all of us and there is no alternative to it. Ultimately, the country must win this battle.
Dr Selim Jahan is Former Director, Human Development Report Office and Poverty Division, United Nations Development Program, New York, USA.
