Articles

Understanding Gender Ideology on Attitudes towards Violence against Women in Rural Bangladesh

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Gender ideology in the context of attitudes and views concerning violence against women (VAW) is a crucial global issue, particularly in Bangladesh. This study explores gender ideology toward violence against women in rural Bangladesh. This study followed a mixed-methods research technique, conducting two focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviewing 400 rural people (200 men and 200 women, aged 18 to 50) from eight cluster villages in Paba Upazila of Rajshahi District, Bangladesh. The findings indicate that people were traditional in their attitudes toward women’s empowerment and violence, victim-blaming, men’s power over women, and acceptance of male dominance but liberal in their views on the relationship between hijab/veil and violence against women. This study argues that patriarchal adherence is represented among people’s gender ideology in rural Bangladesh. The findings of this study imply that improving awareness about gender and violence could help to promote liberal thinking among individuals in rural Bangladesh, hence preventing widespread attitudes toward violence against women.

Unraveling the Complexities: Factors Influencing Conviction Rates in Violence against Women (VAW) Cases in Northern Bangladesh

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This study aims to examine the complex dynamics involved in adjudicating violence against women (VAW) cases within urban settings in Bangladesh, with a focus on the determinants that affect conviction outcomes. Adopting a qualitative research methodology, this inquiry gathers insights from in-depth interviews with 17 key stakeholders, including judges, lawyers, and police officials, within the metropolitan areas of northern Bangladesh. This primary data is further enriched by field observations (court, police station, medical college, and victim support center). The investigation reveals significant procedural deficiencies and systemic challenges encountered during the pre-trial stages of violence against women (VAW) litigation. These include delays in filing complaints, inaccuracies in First Information Reports (FIRs), lapses in evidence preservation, lack of witness cooperation, and discrepancies in medical documentation. The study identifies overarching issues such as inadequate training for investigative officers, substandard evidence collection practices, and the scarcity of forensic expertise as pivotal factors that negatively influence conviction rates. Furthermore, it emphasizes the crucial yet strained role of public prosecutors, who grapple with excessive caseloads, insufficient resources, and a lack of specialized support. This research contributes novel insights into the complexities of prosecuting violence against women (VAW) cases in Bangladesh’s urban centers, highlighting critical inefficiencies within its criminal justice system.

Feminist Perspective on Conflict: A Case Study of Kashmir; Post 1989

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‘Her-story’ and not ‘His-story’ is what I have portrayed in this paper.

We have an enormous amount of work done on the feminist perspective of conflict; from essentialist to post modern feminism, we have a plethora of literature dealing with the entire spectrum of the feminist thought, but here, I did not go into those theoretical nuances, rather, I put forward in the simplest form, how Kashmiri woman look at the conflict in their backyard. 1989 was a watershed in the recent history of Kashmir, when people took to streets and youth to arms, against the state, resulting in a violent conflict which affected all the shades of her people.  Generally, the entire narrative is seen from a male eye, and, even if women are included, they are simply used as a tool and a weapon in the larger male narrative. Her sufferings, her struggle and her misery are not hers; rather, they belong to the collective honor of an entire community, fed into an already existing patriarchal outlook of the world. Here in, I have made an attempt to see the conflict from a feminine prism, from the eyes of a woman, not as a miserable cog in a patriarchal wheel of honor, rather, an individual who is complete in herself. In this project I have used both feminist literature as well as the literature available on Kashmir and Kashmiri women. Besides, I have conducted interviews with many women from Kashmir, who have seen the rise of militancy and how it affected their lives.