Wife Abuse in Bangladesh: An Unrecognised Offence

This work is concerned with wife abuse in Bangladesh and examines the legal position of women in relation to such abuse. In Bangladesh the law is far more involved with "stranger" violence against women, for example, murder, rape or trafficking. Thus, the problem for women, who wish to take legal action against abusive husbands, is that cases of wife abuse often are inadequately dealt with by members of the professional community such as the police, lawyers and the judiciary. In the absence of specific laws, cases of wife abuse are often filed under inappropriate legal provisions (e.g. as dowry offences). This happens as the police are often ignorant of the issue as a public crime and do not know under which law it should be filed. Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) conducted a year long survey among victims of wife abuse and its implications. The numerous case studies compiled by the BNWLA over the years provided an important input for this study. The author builds upon interviews of wife abuse victims and community members/professionals dealing with the problem. She critically analyses the theory and law used to understand and regulate the relationship between the public/private and shows how the public/private dichotomy plays an important part in the patriarchal society of Bangladesh that relegates wife abuse to an insignificant status. The author argues that women sometimes voice their grievance but are often restrained by an invisible chain in asserting their rights. Hence, if wife abuse is not made a cognisable offence, the attitude of society, especially of professionals dealing with such offence, shall remain unchanged leaving women to suffer. The book, therefore, appeals for urgent reforms in laws pertaining to violence against women to include wife abuse as a punishable offence.