Law Opinion
Why only trafficking?
Saira Rahman
Over the years, I have written several articles highlighting various issues of violence against women -- fatwa, rape, acid attack, trafficking, sexual harassment and domestic violence. In all of them, I have continuously echoed the complaint of women rights activists all over the country. But too little is being done. The government is doing little to reduce the violence and that even though we have an impressive number of laws addressing such issues, they are not being implemented for various reasons, including lack of monitoring.
In 2004, when the Government of the United States of America dropped Bangladesh to the dark depths of Tier Three -- their category of a country that has an extremely high rate of trafficking in persons -- while India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka shared the honour of being in the better level of Tier Two, the Bangladesh Government went into a flurry of activity, forming numerous committees, watchdog groups, special law enforcement groups and policies to improve themselves, all under the careful eyes of foreign missions. Finally they were graced with the entrance permit to Tier Two in 2006. All these measures have definitely improved the areas of rescue and rehabilitation of trafficked persons and the arrest and prosecution rate for traffickers has increased. It has also created a mass awareness at the local level and even students in local schools have been taught the perils of being trafficked and how to avoid it. International organisations such as Unicef constantly monitor the activities of the government in this area, although in some of their documents they have also been attracted by the game of indicating fabulous numbers which are far from reality but, as a result, regular reporting from the police monitoring cells, regular meetings at the district and inter-ministerial level and the submission of updates are indeed a refreshing change.
However, trafficking is not the only problem that plagues the women (and children for that matter) of Bangladesh. What about the issue of rape? Of domestic violence? Of acid violence? When women's rights organisations tried to capture the attention of the government by organising the "Court of Women," holding public rallies and meetings and other activities, especially those on International Women's Rights Day, the government did not pay any heed. Does the government have to be threatened with sort of economic sanctions before it makes a move to organise itself to properly address such issues too? Since the government is unable to shake of its colonial habits while taking other policy-making decisions, this is perhaps just what might be needed to rescue victims, curb the violence and ensure prosecution. However, the question that arises is: why on earth are our governments not attuned to what the people want? Why is it always sensitised by external influences? I leave it to the readers to figure that out.
In the realm of the anti-trafficking movement, the government has established an inter-ministerial committee, district level committees, upazilla level committees and has mobilised not only the police but also the Ansars and Village Defence Personnel. It prepares regular country reports and includes data and figures of arrests, rescued persons and prosecutions. In the realm of acid violence, there exists a National Acid Control Council established under the Acid Control Act, but given the fact that acid violence occurs all over the country, it is unfortunate that not all districts have yet established Acid Control Committees. Nor, to my knowledge, have Ansars and the VDP been mobilised in this regard. There are no government initiatives to rehabilitate survivors of avid violence and non-government initiatives are very few. Victims of rape have even less going for them.
True, rape is still something to be silent about, due to the stigma attached to it, but what is being done to remove this taboo? Why is a victim still unsure and afraid? Secondly, when a victim of rape comes to the hospital are there any special examinations and tests taken to prove the crime? If there are provisions are these done and are they found in all hospitals and health complexes? Are there any trained police personnel to look after and give support to rape victims? Training is being given in the area of trafficking, but I think a selective group of law enforcement officers need specialised training on how to deal with victims of heinous crimes and mental trauma, how to support them, give them reassurance, accompany them to examinations, etc… I really do not think it is an impossible task, especially if the government can recruit consultants in that field to lend a hand.
Again, in the area of trafficking, the Ministry of Home Affairs is working closely with the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, of Education and Primary and Mass Education, Information and Social Welfare who are all carrying out relevant activities to create awareness against trafficking. The same ministries can be mobilised to create awareness regarding all the other forms of violence against women, adolescent girls and children just in the same way.
Women make up a significant part of Bangladesh's population -- and voter list. Violence against women (and adolescent girls and children) in any form is not something to be tolerated. If the government can find the "internal" and "external" strength to battle it out with traffickers and change a whole scenario in three years, then it most certainly can do the same and more against perpetrators of rape, domestic violence and acid violence. The laws are all there, the motivation and will are needed to set up the priorities and get the ball rolling.
The writer is Assistant Professor, School of Law, BRAC University.
