& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Concern over sorry state of women’s rights

Staff Correspondent
Speakers at a seminar yesterday expressed deep concern over the sorry state of women's rights in the country.
They termed the situation alarming saying that the number of rape incidents and enforcement of fatwas are increasing in recent days.
Addressing the seminar, the Netherlands Ambassador Alphons Hennekens expressed his concern over the state of women's rights in the country.
He said the recent incident of gangrape of a schoolgirl published in The Daily Star shows how vulnerable is the right of women in this society.
"We are talking about the women's rights, but the real scenario in the country is that 10 activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCD allegedly gangraped a teenage girl, a ' class VII student from Pakhimara in Kalapara upazila," said the envoy.
He said it is very concerning that the activists of progovernment student wing are involved in such a heinous crime when the government is trying its best to combat violence against women.
Before starting his scheduled speech, the Netherlands envoy read out the report published in The Daily Star of September 30.
He read, "The activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) allegedly gangraped a teenage girl on Friday night, but were handed down a mere punishment at a village arbitration arranged to ensure their escape by local Awami League leaders. Farcical arbitration let 16 culprits get away with a fine of Tk 10,000 each. Victim's poor father dares not to file case."
The ambassador further read out, “Police also released two of the accused held on the spot while handing the victim over to her father early Saturday morning," to express his dismay and deep concern over the incident.
The dissemination seminar was organised by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) with the support of the Embassy of the Netherlands at a city hotel to present a BIDS study titled An inventory and statistics on violence against women in Bangladesh: Putting into place a database'.
The study revealed that in spite of legal measures and support services by government and non government organisations, violence against women is still increasing due to several reasons.
These include no change in deep-rooted values, beliefs and attitudes towards women, social tolerance to domestic violence, underreporting of cases of violence against women, complicated and lengthy legal process, ineffective implementation of laws and lack of gender sensitivity in dealing with the cases of violence by police and judicial authorities.
The study also revealed that effective policies to deal with violence against women cannot be taken due to lack of adequate data and Information in this regard.
It said in order to formulate appropriate policies and programmes to address the violence against women It is a must to establish a databank which will provide accurate
and updated data to address the issue properly.
Addressing the seminar as chief guest State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Dr Shirin Sharmin Choudhury said patriarchal mindset towards women triggers violence against women, and as such it is needed to change the mindset first to combat all sorts of violence against women.
The government is very much sincere not only to combat violence against women but also to keep the society free from violence," said the state minister, adding," We are working on to
finalise a draft of a law on domestic violence and hope that it will be passed very soon in parliament."
Speaking on the occasion as special guest Meher Afroze Chumki, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, said the government is committed to combat violence against women but it is not possible for the government alone to deal with such a severe issue.
There is a need for coordination between the government and non- government organisations to stop violence against women, she added.
Terming violence against women an impediment to country’s forward march Meher said it is very much important to create awareness among the people about the rights ofwomen.
Maheen Sultan of BRAC University moderated the seminar which was also addressed by BIDS Director General Dr MK Mujeri, First Secretary of the Netherlands Embassy Henny De Vries and human rights activist Dr Hamida Hossain.