1 CASE STUDIES ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACHIEVEMENTS OF MANUSHER JONNO FOUNDATIONS PARTNERS VAW PROJECTS 2 Prepared By Violence against Women (VAW) and Women Rights focused Partner organisation of MJF Coordinated By Arpita Das, Program Manager, Manusher Jonno foundation Banasree Mitra Neogi, Program Coordinator-Violence against Women, Manusher Jonno Foundation Edited by Shaheen Anam Shazzad Khan Write up on Legal Provisions Irfat Ara IVA Arpita Das Translated by Shamim Ashraf Copyright@ 2009 Manusher Jonno Foundation April 2009 Published by Manusher Jonno Foundation House 122, Road 1, Block-F, Banani Model Town, Dhaka 1213, Bangladesh Phone: 88 (02)8824309, 8810152, 8811161, Fax: 88 (02) 8810162 E-mail: [email protected] ,URL: www.manusher.org DTP Design & Publication Transparent Photo Credit MJF Archive Special Thanks to Tayeba Begum Lipi “Feminine” 3 Glossary Sl. Commonly/Locally Elaboration No. Used Terms 1 Bedai Talak Irrevocable Divorce 2 Denmahr The amount of money pledged to be paid to the bride by the bridegroom in a Muslim marriage 3 Farz According to Muslim law which are made it binding/obligatory for all 4 Fatwa (edict) The dictionary meaning of 'Fatwa' is Religious Decree. Fatwa is a legal statement in Islam, issued by a mufti or a religious lawyer, on a specific issue. Fatwa’s are asked for by judges or individuals, and are needed in cases where a issue of fiqh is undecided or uncertain. Lawsuits can be settled on the basis of a fatwa. It is vital that a fatwa is not based upon the muftis or lawyers own will and ideas, he must render it in accordance with fixed precedent. Today, fatwa’s have limited importance in most Muslim societies, and are normally used only in cases of marriage, inheritance and divorce. The importance of a fatwa depends on its acceptance among most people, and if people don't care about it, it is in reality powerless. 5 Fatwabaz The person who pronounce 'Fatwa' 6 Gamchha A napkin made by handloom 7 Hilla marriage Literally hilla marriage means an arrangement of reunification between the husband and the divorced wife if they desire. The arrangement is such that the divorced wife shall be given married to another man and after being divorced by him she will be admissible for reunification with her first husband by the system Islam prescribes. 8 “Jowtuk” (“Dowry”) A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her new husband. Compare bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, 4 and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. 9 Kabinnama or marriage contract popularly known as Nikahnama 10 Maintenance It is the monetary support that a wife, children, (Nafaqa) parents, and grand children can claim as a matter of legal right on the husband, parents, son, and grandfather respectively to maintain their livelihood. 11 Mahar Bride price, the amount of money pledged to be paid to the bride by the bridegroom in a Muslim marriage. 12 Moulavi a person well versed in religious norms and practices 13 Nikah/marriage is a civil contract between a man and woman of sound mind on attaining puberty that aims primarily at procreation and legitimization of children. 14 Talak Talak is an Arabic word meaning "to release" or "to divorce". Under the Muslim law, talak means "to untie the matrimonial knot by articulating a word denoting divorce." In a very simple language the dissolution of contract of marriage by the husband at his will without the intervention of the court is also called talak 15 Talaknama The written document of divorce is called talaknama. 5 6 Foreword These case stories reflect MJF partners’ experience emanated from supporting projects in the field that address many forms of violence against women, with the aim of disseminating lessons that can be used to confront the problem on a wider scale. It is intended primarily for the development practitioners and others seeking to change attitudes and practices that have been passed on through generations. Breaking the cycle of violence is a necessary and urgent task, if the realisation of women’s human rights is to become a reality in this generation. MJF works to ensure that addressing violence against women and girls is an integral part of sexual & reproductive health and prevention of VAW programmes. Together with our partners, we are working to bring national laws into compliance with international standards; train and sensitise justice officials – the police, the media, armed forces and civil society peacekeepers; reach out to men; combat harmful practices such as female genital mutilation/cutting and child marriage; and promote gender equality. The growing visibility and awareness of violence against women and the suffering it causes among women, their families and in society at large has encouraged governments, civil society organisations and others to establish mechanisms and programmes to address the issue - with promising results. Nevertheless, violence against women remains one of the most serious social problems of our time, cutting across religious, ethnic and class/caste boundaries. This publication is a part of a sequence of exploration that MJF has undertaken over the last four years to look at the cultural dimensions of gender equality and women’s rights to reduce Violence Against Women. Violence against women is a multidimensional problem that requires a multidimensional response. Adding to the complexity is the fact that every culture has its own set of attitudes and reactions to it, which must be thoroughly understood by anyone attempting to tackle the problem in an effective and sustainable way. I would like to thank the team members Banasree Mitra Neogi and Arpita Das for their efforts to plan and coordinate the information. My sincere thanks also to Rina Roy, Director-Rights for her overall support and editorial assistances to make the report published as a desktop publication. Finally, my gratitude goes to the selected partner organisations and their stakeholders who provided useful information and other support to the team. Shaheen Anam Executive Director 7 INTRODUCTION Violence against women must be addressed on multiple levels and in multiple sectors of society simultaneously, taking direction from local people on how women’s rights may be promoted in a given context Violence against Women (VAW) in Bangladesh is occurring in almost every aspect of women’s lives. Women’s Movement of Bangladesh has played an important role in bringing ‘Violence against Women’ issue to centre stage as a internationally acknowledged human rights issue. Twenty years ago, violence against women was not considered worthy of international attention or concern. Victims of violence suffered in silence, with little public recognition of their plight. This began to change in the 1980sas women’s groups organized locally and internationally to demand attention to the physical, psychological, and economic abuse of women. Gradually, violence against women has come to be recognized as a legitimate human rights issue and as a significant threat to women’s health and well-being. Partner Organizations are working to increase social awareness about VAW as a violation of human right of women and girls. Through Community based mobilization, capacity building and activism they are sensitizing duty bearers. They are working both nationally and locally with women's groups, human rights groups and media to promote the concepts of women's rights and entitlements and the unacceptability of violence and support processes for her empowerment. Partner Organizations are also trying to build formal and informal Community structures. These structures mobilize and give orientation to discourage violence in public and private sphere of life. The program also encourages take initiatives on dealing with conflicts before it escalates into violence e.g. husband wife disputes, disputes between two families over dowry, harassment of girls on the way to school or public transport, etc. Partner Organizations are working with the police department, Judiciary, medical/hospital department in increasing their awareness, to ensure quality of services and making them more responsive to VAW and women rights issues. They are also trying to identify institutional constraints and gaps of the service providers. Based on the outcome they are attempting to find the solution, how best these services could work towards establishing women’s entitlements. Partner Organizations pursuing women rights and working against VAW are working through complementary partnerships to undertake policy advocacy with Government on VAW and domestic violence issues. Strengthening institutional capacity of grassroots level female headed organizations and flourishing inner-potentials of women aiming at economic empowerment and gender equality. In this document MJF has made an effort to focus on partners interventions impacts through some presentation of case stories. 8 9 Early marriage, especially without the consent of the minor aged girls is a common practice in Bangladesh. Early marriage is encouraged for several reasons such as, guarantees financially well-established husbands, relieve her family of the burden of a mouth to feed and at the same time ensure a long cycle of fertility to produce a number of sons, security concerns etc. Besides, a girl child is still considered a burden to poor parents. Poverty is one of the major factors underpinning early marriage. Furthermore, in the marriage market the younger the bride, lesser the dowry demand. Parents’ fear for their daughters’ security, especially when she is an adolescent and capable of conceiving a child out of wedlock. When a young single girl becomes pregnant not only does she stand to be condemned by her community (in some cases she becomes the subject of fatwa’s), her parents and family are also punished with social isolation and humiliation. Cultural stigmatization of sex outside of marriage actually puts the family honour at stake.