Seminar on
Domestic Violence against Women during
COVID-19 in Bangladesh
Presented by
Seminar Group-D
4th year 1st semester
Course no: SCW-410
Course Title: Seminar and Viva-voce
Session: 2018-19
Department of Social Work, SUST
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet
Seminar on
Domestic Violence against Women during COVID-19 in
Bangladesh
Presented by
Seminar Group-D
Name of the group members Registration number
Nashia Mijan Chowdhury 2018233007
Muhammad Hafijur Rahman 2018233016
Yeakub Ali 2018233022
MD Suhag Mia 2018233028
Saiful Islam 2018233034
Asikur Rahman 2018233041
Farzana Binte Omar 2018233058
Fatema Jannat Khan 2018233075
Tawhida Islam Mou 2017233031
Supervisor
Priyanka Bhattacharjee
Assistant Professor
Department of Social Work, SUST
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
Objective of this Paper ............................................................................................................... 2
Methodology .............................................................................................................................. 2
Domestic Violence against Women during COVID 19 in Bangladesh ...................................... 2
Torture as a Form of Domestic Violence ............................................................................... 5
Murder as a Form of Severs Domestic Violence ................................................................... 5
Committed Suicide................................................................................................................. 5
Torture, Murder and Suicide as a Form of Violation against Woman.................................... 6
New Victims of Domestic Violence ........................................................................................... 6
Verbal Abuse to Migrated Women. ........................................................................................ 7
Factors Contributing Rising Domestic Violence in Pandemic Period ....................................... 7
Real Scenario of Domestic Violence in Bangladesh .................................................................. 8
Violence against Women ........................................................................................................ 9
Violence against Children ...................................................................................................... 9
Child Marriage ..................................................................................................................... 10
Violence at Workplace ......................................................................................................... 10
Rape ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Murder.................................................................................................................................. 10
Sociological Perspective about Violence against Women ....................................................... 12
Possible Intervention to Prevent the Rising Trends of Domestic Violence ............................. 14
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 15
References ................................................................................................................................ 15
Introduction
Domestic violence against women has been a longstanding issue in Bangladesh, with women
experiencing victimization across various aspects of their lives. The global images of the
COVID-19 pandemic have had widespread effects, touching every facet of existence, including
the concerning surge in violence against women. Initially, it was predominantly poor and rural
women who were considered the primary victims of such violence. However, recent research
indicates that women from all social and economic strata, diverse religions, ages, and
geographical regions, now face this issue. While there has been increasing media coverage on
violence against women in recent years, the incidence continues to rise steadily. The
widespread availability of the internet and social media has further escalated the risk of
cybercrimes against women. The COVID-19 crisis has impacted all sectors of the country,
including the economy, health, education, and livelihoods. Measures like health protocols,
social and physical distancing, prolonged lockdowns, and restricted mobility have dramatically
altered people's lives, affecting women's safety. These changes have also had a pronounced
impact on women's safety and security. It is often argued that the rural women are tended to be
more victims out of the domestic violence rather than urban women, because the urban women
are more aware and conscious of their rights and the human rights organizations are more
accessible to the urban people compared to the rural people (CPD, 2009). But there is an equal
probability for a woman lives in a rural area as well as another one lives in an urban area to be
victimized by the domestic violence (WHO, 1997). Unfortunately, "The ongoing COVID-19
pandemic has led to an escalation in domestic violence and sexual assault against women and
children in Bangladesh", as reported by the International Federation for Human Rights in 2020.
Domestic Violence is identified as “gender violence” (Harne & Radford, 2008) [2]; “wife
abuse” and “wife assault” (Ellesberg, 1999 [3]; Mears, 2003 [4]); “conjugal violence”, “marital
violence”, “family violence”; “intimate partner violence”, “domestic abuse”, “domestic
assault”, “wife beating”, “women abuse”, (McCue, 2008) [5]. Ave (2011) [6] addresses
domestic violence against women done by intimate partners and family members. In addition,
Romito (2008) [7] identifies domestic violence as a form of violence generally a man against
a woman. Furthermore, Women’s Aid (2009) [8] describes domestic violence as repetitive; life-
threatening may be destructive to the lives on women and children.
To explain domestic violence, the sociological perspective of domestic violence is discussed in
this paper.
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Objective of this Paper
The general objective of this study is to explore the nature of domestic violence against women
during the pandemic situation of COVID-19. The pandemic and associated lockdowns have
had significant impacts on various aspects of society including different forms of violence
against women. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) forecasted a 20 percent
increase in domestic violence in all 193 UN member countries, including Bangladesh, during
the lockdowns of COVID-19 ((UNFPA), 2020) The specific objectives of this study are,
• To explore the nature and different forms of domestic violence against women during
COVID-19 in Bangladesh.
• To identify the risk factors that contribute to an increase in domestic violence against
women.
• To explain the real scenario of domestic violence against women during lockdowns.
• To address possible solutions to domestic violence and violence against women.
Methodology
This paper is based on secondary literature review. A comprehensive search of academic
databases such as Google Scholar and LitCovid was conducted to identify relevant peer-
reviewed articles published between 2020 and 2022. Keywords used for the search included
“violence against women,” “domestic violence in Bangladesh,” and “scenario of VAW during
COVID-19 in Bangladesh.” The findings from the selected studies were synthesized in a
narrative format to present a comprehensive overview of violence against women during
COVID-19 in Bangladesh.
The limitations of this secondary literature review include potential publication bias and the
reliance on existing studies' methodologies. Furthermore, due to the dynamic nature of the
research field, some recent studies may not have been included.
As this is a secondary literature review paper, no primary data collection was involved. Ethical
considerations related to the use of published data and proper citation of sources were followed.
Domestic Violence against Women during COVID 19 in Bangladesh
The issue of the domestic violence is prevalent across all social and economic groups in the
rural and urban areas of Bangladesh. In most cases, the husband seems responsible for
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committing violence against the wife here. In Bangladeshi societies, it has got a culture of
acceptance, even, has grown and is being transmitted from generation to generation to the point
of being institutionalized (Khan, 2005). It has serious damaging repercussions throughout the
rest of society which is taught to accept the subjugation of women.
There are different types of domestic violence that occur in pandemic situations. Apart from
patriarchal social structure many factors are highly responsible for promoting this ill practice
all over the world. Domestic violence in Bangladesh, its types in terms of all types of violence
against women, including women battering, wife beating, domestic and dowry-related
violence, acid attacks, rape, physical and verbal harassment, sexual harassment at work,
prostitution and trafficking, polygamy, and child abuse, Bangladesh ranks second in the world.
According to the study, there are primarily four types of domestic violence, including:
1. Physical violence, such as punching, kicking, burning, acid throwing, and forced abortion.
2. Psychological violence includes humiliation, the threat of physical harm, limiting movement,
and desertion.
3. Sexual abuse includes forced prostitution, refusal to have sex, and marital rape.
4. Economic violence included discontinuing the supply of food, ending the victim's and their
children's upkeep, demanding dowries, forbidding them from working, forcing them to work,
etc.
100%
93% 91%
90% 84%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
13%
10%
0%
Physical violence Sexual violence Economic violence Psychological violence
Figure 1: General forms of domestic violence against women in Bangladesh
Source: Sultana Yeasmin and Noor Mohammad Sarker, February 2021.
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In lockdown there are many cases were reported about domestic violence
According to Sultana (2010), seeing women as inferior to males has become the accepted norm
in our society. Bangladesh has a high rate of domestic violence as a result (Home Office, 2020).
Even though approximately 30% of women globally experience physical or sexual abuse when
they are in a relationship, violence against women is not just a problem in Bangladesh (WHO,
2017). Domestic violence is defined as "patterns of incidents of controlling, threatening
behavior, coercive, violence or abuse of persons aged 16 or over by their intimate partners or
family members" (Home Office, 2020). It is not just confined to psychological, sexual,
physical, economic, or emotional abuse.
Categories Nature of violence Cases filed No info about cases total
Category 1 Tortured by husband 5(24%) 16(76%) 21(100%)
Tortured by husbands’
Category 2 2 (20%) 8(80%) 10(100%)
family members
Tortured by own
Category 3 11(48%) 12(52%) 23(100%)
family
Category 4 Murdered by husband 76(62%) 45(38%) 121(100%)
Murdered by husbands’
Category 5 23(64%) 13(36%) 36(100%)
family members
Murdered by own
Category 6 17(57%) 13(43%) 30(100%)
family
Category 7 Suicide 21(34%) 41(66%) 62(100%)
Category 8 Total 155(51%) 148(49%) 303(100%)
Torture (Husband +
Category 9 husband’s family 18 (33%) 36 (67%) 54 (100%)
members+ own family)
Category 10 Murder 116(62%) 71(38%) 187(100%)
Category 11 Affected by husband 81(57%) 61(43%) 142(100%)
Affected by own
Category 12 28(52%) 25(48%) 53(100%)
family
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Affected by husbands’
Category 13 25(54%) 21(46%) 46(100%)
family
Category 14 Victim of death 137(55%) 112(45%) 249(100%)
Table 1: Prescription of lawful action of domestic violence against women during COVID-19
Period.
Source: Prothom Alo, Ittefaq, Samakal, Sangbad, Janakantha, Noya Diganta, Daily Star, New
Age, Dhaka Tribune (include their e-papers), some online news portals and Ain o Salish
Kendra (ASK).
Domestic violence is typically meted out to women by their husbands, husband's family
members, and own family members through torture, murder, and the ultimate result of torture—
committed suicide. Domestic abuse causes women to attempt suicide more than 12 times more
frequently than women who have not experienced such inhumane violence (WHO, 2002) [14].
Table 1 displays the legal proceedings that were taken in Bangladesh in response to domestic
violence against women during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Torture as a Form of Domestic Violence
Of 303 cases, 76% (16) women tortured by intimate partner called husband, 80% (8) women
tortured by husband’s family members, 52% (12) tortured by own family members are no more
concerned about taking legal action against to the guilty. After all, 67% (36) women tortured
by husband, husband’s family member and own family members don’t prescribe case filling as
a judicial proceeding of taking legal action.
Murder as a Form of Severs Domestic Violence
Cases have been filled and taken judicial proceedings who are victimized 62% (76) on
murdered by husband, 64% (23) on murdered by husband family members and 57% (17) on
murdered by own family members. 62% (116) women are murdered by husband, husband’s
family members and own family members taken judicial proceedings for prescription of trial.
Committed Suicide
Surprisingly, 66% (41) women who committed suicide obtain no more information on filling
case whereas the remaining number of women who committed suicide takes judicial
proceedings.
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Torture, Murder and Suicide as a Form of Violation against Woman
57% (81) women who are victim of violence (torture and murder) by their husband; more than
half of the cases (52%; 28) and (54%; 25) who are victims of such violence by their own family
members and husband’s family members’ respectively filled cases. 55% (137) women are
victim of death (suicide and murder) by their husband, husband’s family members and down
family members filled cases for trial.
New Victims of Domestic Violence
In Bangladesh, there are many recorded and unreported incidents of physical, verbal, financial,
psychological, and sexual assault. COVID-19 restricts access to life-saving resources for
survivors, including psycho-social, health, and safety programs (Ali, 2020). A survey by the
Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) found In April 2020, it came out that 4,249 women and
456 children had experienced domestic violence in 27 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. 424 children
and 1,672 women among these victims had never experienced violence. The women who had
never experienced domestic abuse blamed the lockdown for their situation.
According to another estimate, 107 women were killed by their spouses between January 2020
and June 2020, although only 74 cases were reported. 30 women were slain by the husband's
family, while 26 women were murdered by their own family. There were just 33 cases brought
against them. (Ain O Salish Kendra, 2020).
Among them rape and child abuse has increased during the prevailing corona virus pandemic
in the country. This was revealed in police headquarters crime related records of the year 2020.
According to the data collected by the police headquarters based on cases filed at various police
stations of the country, 6,555 incidents of rape took place last year. That means there were 17
rapes a day on average in the country. According to police records, there has been a steady
increase in rape over the past few years. Some of the incidents created quite a stir in the country
and the people took to the streets in protest. In the previous year, 2019, there had been 5,872
incidents of rape. According to police records, there has been a steady increase in rape over the
past few years. Some of the incidents created quite a stir in the country and the people took to
the streets in protest.
Over the past five years there has been an increase in child abuse too. Last year there were over
2500 incidents of child abuse. In 2019 this had stood at 2363.
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Crime analysts feel that along with social degeneration, another major cause for the increase in
sexual violence and rape has been pornography.
Verbal Abuse to Migrated Women.
Women who support her family as a breadwinner by staying abroad they are called migrated
workers. In USA, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman there are a large portion of women are mostly
worked as domestic workers. During COVID-19 many of them were unemployed and they
returned in Bangladesh. But many of them fall victim to verbal abuse from them (in laws) and
neighbors.
Factors Contributing Rising Domestic Violence in Pandemic Period
The Coronavirus in the year 2020 has infected the entire world and the consequences are not
just physical or medical, there are social and legal consequences as well, violence and offences
has increased at a concerning rate and domestic violence is one of those offences needing
immediate attention to be paid at. It is not possible to legally assist victims without identifying
the reasons and factors behind such an increase in domestic violence, so that these components
can be eradicated via enforcement of legal mechanisms and rules.
Since social distancing or isolation has been a key precautionary measure in the pandemic
period, the victims of domestic violence are trapped in the same house with the perpetrators.
Due to quarantine measures, there are less, and limited contact created with the outside world
adversely affecting the victims or people vulnerable to violence at home.
It is very common for abusers to isolate their victims from using any means of communications
as an act of control and in pandemic period, these perpetrator-imposed restrictions and
surveillance of internet or cellphones have made it close to impossible for the victims to seek
for help. Mental health is also being severely affected due to unemployment, reduced income,
stress, financial crisis and so on which is eventually affecting family relationships which is
leading to violence in domestic settings where women are coerced to play subordinate roles.
There are a few commonalities between the factors causing domestic violence in both the
pandemic and pre pandemic period which include- the inequal and subordinate role of women
because of financial dependence due to lack of property and inheritance rights, the stereotypical
social norms deciding roles of the members of the household, lack of access to legal assistance
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and most importantly, lack of rules made in accordance with the needs of both rural and urban
community.
Real Scenario of Domestic Violence in Bangladesh
One method of female repression or subjection is domestic violence. It exists for a variety of
reasons, such as witnessing violence and social conventions of gender acceptance and
subjugation. Major criminological explanations for the prevalence of domestic violence
between husbands and wives served as the basis for this study. Following a study of prior work,
the creation of theory integration, and the implementation of a field survey, the outcomes and
expectations were produced. As was already said, this essay makes the case that how family
members are treated, particularly by husbands who think their wives shouldn't be treated
equally, greatly influences the position of women. In this hierarchy, male violence is justified
to punish women and is seen as a justifiable reaction to husbands' mistreatment of their wives.
Furthermore, in Bangladesh, because of male-dominated social norms, domestic violence
continues to be normalized. Most of the families were male headed allowing the husband to
dominate domestic decision making. The results also revealed that men felt their dominant
status and justified domestic violence as a household corrective measure.
Most of the men, especially in the slum areas, are drug addicted and therefore to that addiction,
they suffer from a significant irrationality in their behavior which very often translates into
abuse of their wives through beatings and physical abuse.
A significant portion of the respondents admitted witnessing and experiencing instances of
domestic violence during their childhood. By experiencing it for themselves at home or
witnessing violence in media and other platforms, a lot of perpetrators picked up the tendency
of domestic violence towards women whom they have considered as inferiors given social
norms. Research also surfaced that there are other external factors that trigger attribution of
violence among men. Issues like poverty, deprivation or depression incite frustration and
distress in men that eventually surface as violence against women in the family.
A very insignificant proportion of the respondents believed that women or wives are men’s
equal partners. For perpetrators, there was no recognition of equality; instead, an assumption
of the subordinate status of women given existing social norms and behaviors dominated. From
this latter perspective, violence against women has an intergenerational component that
perpetuates a vicious cycle of violence against women. The findings from this research reveal
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that violence is not an inherent attribute of men but instead is an outcome of misconstrued
socialization. That violence is learned and imitated, puts forward food for thought for all of us.
It compels us to look closely and question the prevailing social norms of society. It compels us
to draw attention to psychological and sociological developments that possess the power to
create deviance or criminality in an individual.
Violence against Women
Domestic violence was the major of violence such as rape, attempted rape, sexual harassment,
and murder. A number of incidents of harassment was recorded where women of reliefs during
this pandemic. About 97.4% (11,025) out of a total of 11,323 women victims of domestic
violence. 1.6%, 0.5%, 0.4% and 0.2% victims/survivors were victims of sexual harassment,
sexual harassment during receiving food/other support.
Rape Murder
Sexual violence harassment during receiving support
Domestic violence
Figure 2: Forms of domestic violence during COVID-19
Source: Manusher Jonno Foundation, 2020.
Antara Chakma, wife of Biswa Tripura, lives at Buddha para of Boalkhali union, of sub-district
under Khagrachari district. Biswa lost his job during the lockdown situation and became very
rude. Whenever he is unable to manage food for the family, he becomes angry and torture
Antara physically.
Violence against Children
Like the female members of households’ children also become victims of different form of
violence during the month of May.2171 children become victims of various kinds of violence
during the reporting period with 75% of them being victim of domestic torture.
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Taniya, a twelve-year student of class five, used to get midday tiffin from her school. As the
school is closed due to lockdown; she asks her parents around 11 am for money to buy food.
Her parents, being very poor and recently becoming jobless due to Corona, afford to give her
the money and instead beat her for asking tiffin money.
Child Marriage
170 child marriages occurred while 233 child marriages could be stopped by the partners and
local leaders. 139 girls and 13 boys became victims of child marriage when 221 girls and 12
boys could be saved from possible child marriages.
Mst. Fatema Begum, a student of class seven of Kumorganj village of Umormajid union of
district under Kurigram district, had been set by her father to get her married. Fatema, with the
help of her mother, informed the staff members of Mohidev Kalyan Samity who stopped
Fateama’s early marriage.
Violence at Workplace
Though a very limited number of workers (mostly informal) had been active during the
lockdown period, 67 working children became victims in their workplace. 34 (51%) boys and
33 (49%) were girls.
Rape
About 19 rape incidents were reported while 18 rapes are attempted. Among these out of 37
survivors 36 were girls.
A 9th grade schoolgirl was raped by her private teacher along with four other friends in Bakua
under Thakurgaon district. The girl's family took legal action, but it had been postponed in the
Corona situation.
Murder
13 girls are murdered only during May 2020 while 6 boys were killed during this period. On
April 15,2020 Obaidul Haque Tutul, a Bangladeshi man, livestreamed the murder of his wife
on Facebook. The incident shocked the country, especially those who watched it. For a moment
they couldn't even react to it, as they couldn't believe what was happening. Tatul killed his wife
Tahmina Akhter with a machete in his home, reportedly over a financial dispute. After
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committing the crime, Tutul turned himself in to the local police. The horrific video has been
taken down from the social media platform.
According to Prothom Alo news portal the number of total cases in 5 years following 2018 to
2022 is almost 99638.
25,000
22,501 22,124
21,752
20,000
17,207
16,234
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Figure 3: The number of cases filed from 2018 to 2022.
Source: Prothom Alo, December 2022.
According to government and non-government sources, there has been an average increase of
350 cases per month under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, compared to
five years ago.
Meanwhile, online platforms have turned into another major medium for hateful comments,
cheating, sexual harassment, and torture. Compared to the beginning of this year there has been
a 25 per cent increase in complaints of harassment online towards the year-end.
The two years of widespread corona infection, 2020 and 2021, saw the largest increases in the
number of cases filed, by 39% and 36%, respectively. In just 10 months, incidences this year
have risen by 5% in comparison to 2018.
The Women and Children Repression Prevention Act covers crimes such as rape, torture, and
murder for dowry, abduction, sexual assault, incitement to suicide, injuring with combustibles,
and mutilation of children for begging purposes. In this regard, Asaduzzaman Khan, the home
minister, stated to Prothom Alo on December 21 that no nation in the world is free from
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repression of women and children. The prime minister speaks out against the mistreatment of
women.
In Bangladesh, there are many recorded and unreported incidents of physical, verbal, financial,
psychological, and sexual assault. COVID-19 restricts access to life-saving resources for
survivors, including psycho-social, health, and safety programs (Ali, 2020). A survey by the
Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) found In April 2020, it came out that 4,249 women and
456 children had experienced domestic violence in 27 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. 424 children
and 1,672 women among these victims had never experienced violence. The women who had
never experienced domestic abuse blamed the lockdown for their situation. According to
another estimate, 107 women were killed by their spouses between January 2020 and June
2020, although only 74 cases were reported. 30 women were slain by the husband's family,
while 26 women were murdered by their own family. There were just 33 cases brought against
them. (Ain O Salish Kendra, 2020).
Sociological Perspective about Violence against Women
From a functionalist perspective, violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic in
Bangladesh could be attributed to disruptions in societal functions and structures. Factors that
may contribute to this issue include increased stress due to economic uncertainty, job losses,
and social isolation. The strain on families' functional roles and norms, along with reduced
access to support systems, could lead to heightened tensions and instances of violence.
Additionally, disruptions in institutions like schools and workplaces may lead to a lack of
oversight and intervention, further exacerbating the problem. It's important to note that the
functionalist view emphasizes the interconnectedness of various elements in society and how
their dysfunction can lead to negative consequences.
Violence against women in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic can be attributed to a
combination of social, economic, and psychological factors. Some potential causes include:
1. Economic Stress: The pandemic led to economic uncertainties, job losses, and financial
strain for many families. Increased financial pressure can exacerbate existing tensions
within households, potentially leading to violence against women as a way for some
individuals to exert control or vent their frustration.
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2. Social Isolation: Lockdowns and restrictions on movement resulted in increased social
isolation. Women might be trapped at home with abusive partners or family members,
making it difficult for them to seek help or escape dangerous situations.
3. Reduced Access to Support Services: During lockdowns, access to support services such
as shelters, helplines, and counseling became limited. This lack of external support can
make women more vulnerable to abuse as they might not have a safe place to turn to.
4. Disruption of Protective Networks: Closure of schools, workplaces, and community
spaces disrupted the protective networks that might have offered women a respite from
abusive situations. This isolation can lead to a lack of intervention and support.
5. Gender Inequalities: Pre-existing gender inequalities can be exacerbated during times of
crisis. Cultural norms and traditional gender roles might contribute to women being
disproportionately affected by the pandemic's consequences, making them more
susceptible to violence.
6. Stress and Mental Health Issues: The stress, anxiety, and uncertainty brought on by the
pandemic can contribute to heightened emotions and conflict within households,
potentially resulting in violence.
7. Digital Misuse: With increased online communication, there's a possibility of digital
harassment and abuse. Cyberbullying and online stalking can escalate into real-life
violence.
8. Limited Legal Recourse: Lockdowns might limit women's access to legal remedies and
protection orders, making it difficult for them to escape abusive situations or seek justice.
9. Lack of Awareness and Education: In some cases, lack of awareness about women's
rights and available support services can prevent victims from seeking help or reporting
abuse.
10. Cultural and Social Norms: Traditional gender norms and cultural attitudes that tolerate
or normalize violence against women can contribute to its persistence, particularly during
times of stress.
It's important to recognize that these causes are interconnected and complex. Addressing
violence against women during the pandemic requires a multifaceted approach that includes
raising awareness, providing support services, strengthening legal frameworks, and
challenging harmful cultural norms.
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Possible Intervention to Prevent the Rising Trends of Domestic Violence
During COVID-19 or similar situations, addressing domestic violence against women requires
tailored solutions:
1. Hotlines and Online Support: Establishing and publicizing helplines and online chat
services that provide immediate support and guidance to victims, ensuring they have a
way to seek help discreetly.
2. Safe Spaces: Maintaining accessible and safe shelters for victims, adhering to health
guidelines, and considering repurposing public spaces like community centers to
accommodate those in need.
3. Virtual Counseling: Offering remote counseling and therapy services to victims through
secure online platforms, enabling them to access support without leaving their homes.
4. Text-based Support: Implementing SMS-based platforms where victims can discreetly
communicate with counselors, allowing them to seek help without alerting their abusers.
5. Awareness Campaigns: Launching targeted awareness campaigns through social media,
TV, and radio to inform victims about available resources and support networks.
6. Training for First Responders: Training law enforcement, healthcare workers, and
community volunteers to identify signs of domestic violence and respond sensitively.
7. Community Networks: Strengthening community networks to check on vulnerable
individuals and provide support, as neighbors and friends might be the first to notice signs
of abuse.
8. Employer Support: Encouraging employers to maintain communication with remote
workers, offering a channel for them to report issues or seek assistance.
9. Financial Support: Providing financial aid or assistance programs for victims to achieve
economic independence, reducing dependency on abusers.
10. Legal Aid: Ensuring legal services remain operational, enabling victims to obtain
protection orders and access legal assistance remotely.
11. Public Messaging: Engaging influencers, celebrities, and community leaders to share
messages condemning domestic violence and encouraging support.
Furthermore, collaboration among governments, NGOs, healthcare providers, law
enforcement, and local communities is crucial for implementing and sustaining these solutions
effectively.
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We can stop this evil practice by fulfilling RESPECT.
R = Relationship skill strengthened
E = Empowerment of women (social and economic)
S = Service ensured
P = Poverty reduced
E = Environment make safe
C = Child and adolescent abuse prevented
T = Transformed attitudes and believes
Source: The RESPECT Framework – WHO.
Conclusion
From above discussion focuses on examining violence against women during the COVID-19
pandemic in Bangladesh. The pandemic and associated lockdowns have enhanced factors
contributing to such violence. The prevalence of domestic violence in the country is deeply
ingrained, with cultural acceptance and transmission from generation to generation. While
urban women might have greater awareness and access to support, rural women are also
vulnerable to domestic violence. The lack of effective implementation of laws to protect
women and the normalization of violence continue to be significant challenges. Various forms
of violence against women were identified, including physical, psychological, sexual, and
economic abuse. Lockdowns further intensified these issues, as survivors had restricted access
to resources and support systems. Economic stress, social isolation, reduced support services,
disrupted protective networks, gender inequalities, mental health issues, digital misuse, limited
legal recourse, lack of awareness, and cultural norms all contributed to the persistence of
violence. Overall, the pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for comprehensive measures
to address and prevent violence against women in Bangladesh.
References
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and Ending Gender-Based Violence, Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage.
Retrieved from www.unfpa.org: https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-
pdf/COVID-19_impact_brief_for_UNFPA_24_April_2020_1.pdf
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