Naripokkho worried over violence against women even in Covid-19

Despite the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc in the country, violence against women persists.

Like many other countries around the world Bangladesh has also been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Health service providers are working hard to combat the disease while police, Ansar, village defence force and army have been raising awareness and providing relief materials to people,  among other social welfare works.

However, their presence has not been able to reduce domestic violence in the country.

In Dhaka alone, 37 people have been arrested in 28 cases, including nine rapes, eight dowry extortion incidents, six sexual harassment cases and five abductions between March 26 and April 4, according to an article published in Prothom Alo on April 4.

According to various media sources, a video of a woman being raped in Paikgachha was circulated on social media websites on April 4, a miscreant was detained after allegedly raping a school girl in Chandpur on April 25, a second grader was raped by her private tutor in Shibchar on April 27 and a seven-year-old girl was the victim of attempted rape by a 20-year-old in Fatikchhari on the same day.

A survey by Naripokkho, from data obtained from 976 women in an area, revealed that 294 of them had suffered from domestic violence while 11 were subjected to sexual harassment between April 1 and May 2.

According to a recent research study, at least 4,249 women suffered from domestic violence countrywide during the month of April, according to the Daily Star.

Of the 4,249 women, 848 (20%) were physically tortured, 2,000 (47%) were mentally tortured and 1,308 (31%) were subjected to financial torture, which means they were deprived of either proper food or any kind of financial support.

Other than this, 85 (2%) of the women faced sexual harassment.

Naripokkho has expressed its concern at the situation.

They have urged surveillance at the upazila, district and divisional levels in tackling such violence against women. 

The organization demanded a prevention of violence against women through establishing rule of law in the country.