No let-up in domestic violence

There is no alternative to empowering women in a big way for protecting them from and repression

It is very much painful to note that incidents of killing and repression of housewives are showing no sign of abatement in the country. According to a report in this newspaper yesterday, three housewives were hacked to death allegedly by their husbands and in-laws in Monirampur and Chowgachha upazilas of Jessore district and Jibannagar upazila of Chuadanga district recently. That women are no more safe in their homes and outside their homes is evident from their increasingly falling victims to unprecedented brutality perpetrated by their husbands and in-laws. Being the weaker sex, women are hapless victims in the patriarchal society.
Killing of housewives by their husbands and in-laws for dowry and other reasons has become a regular feature in the country. They become victims of repression on the flimsiest pretexts. No matter how much drudgery they undergo in their husbands’ families; their sacrifice in maintaining the husbands’ households, rigours of child bearing and rearing are hardly recognized and evaluated.
A little bit of love, compassion and sympathy from the husbands and the in-laws is a distant dream for them. These are the grim realities that confront these ill-fated women. For some housewives the very presence of their husbands is intimidating and awe-inspiring.
The in-laws browbeat them into submission. Even their parents and relatives warn them against being disrespectful to their husbands and in-laws. There is hardly any oasis of peace for them.
More than four decades have elapsed since the independence of the country. Much water has flown down the Padma, the Meghna and the Jamuna but the fate of the country’s women has not changed. Women are still considered as an object of pity. Wrong interpretation of religion also helps suppression of women.   Women are receiving education; they are heading for empowerment, albeit slowly, but still their days of despondency are yet to be replaced by promises.  
According to Islam women should enjoy equal rights as men do but it seems illusive to the former. For changing the lot of women the overall mindset of society needs to be changed. The state machinery, political leaders, rights groups, religious leaders should play their respective roles. There is no alternative to empowering women in a big way for protecting them from killing and repression. Massive awareness should be built up through media campaign and other ways for improving the status of women.   

 

No let-up in domestic violence

There is no alternative to empowering women in a big way for protecting them from and repression

It is very much painful to note that incidents of killing and repression of housewives are showing no sign of abatement in the country. According to a report in this newspaper yesterday, three housewives were hacked to death allegedly by their husbands and in-laws in Monirampur and Chowgachha upazilas of Jessore district and Jibannagar upazila of Chuadanga district recently. That women are no more safe in their homes and outside their homes is evident from their increasingly falling victims to unprecedented brutality perpetrated by their husbands and in-laws. Being the weaker sex, women are hapless victims in the patriarchal society. Killing of housewives by their husbands and in-laws for dowry and other reasons has become a regular feature in the country. They become victims of repression on the flimsiest pretexts. No matter how much drudgery they undergo in their husbands families; their sacrifice in maintaining the husbands households, rigours of child bearing and rearing are hardly recognized and evaluated. A little bit of love, compassion and sympathy from the husbands and the in-laws is a distant dream for them. These are the grim realities that confront these ill-fated women. For some housewives the very presence of their husbands is intimidating and awe-inspiring. The in-laws browbeat them into submission. Even their parents and relatives warn them against being disrespectful to their husbands and in-laws. There is hardly any oasis of peace for them. More than four decades have elapsed since the independence of the country. Much water has flown down the Padma, the Meghna and the Jamuna but the fate of the countrys women has not changed. Women are still considered as an object of pity. Wrong interpretation of religion also helps suppression of women. Women are receiving education; they are heading for empowerment, albeit slowly, but still their days of despondency are yet to be replaced by promises. According to Islam women should enjoy equal rights as men do but it seems illusive to the former. For changing the lot of women the overall mindset of society needs to be changed. The state machinery, political leaders, rights groups, religious leaders should play their respective roles. There is no alternative to empowering women in a big way for protecting them from killing and repression. Massive awareness should be built up through media campaign and other ways for improving the status of women.