Editorial
Horrendous scale of spousal abuse
Gender-sensitivity must begin at home
THE recent study conducted by CPD in which is was revealed that the cost of physical healthcare related to spousal violence amounts to over 4 per cent of GDP is shocking news and should serve as a wake-up call to all of us. Indeed, the study merely puts a taka figure on an extremely serious problem that has plagued our society and gone unheeded for far too long.
The fact that the actual monetary cost of such violence is so high should give us all pause and helps to quantify the severity of the situation. However, more eye-opening even than the monetary figure are the other statistics revealed by the study, which are, in fact, far more troubling.
If 40 percent of Bangladeshi women are abused it means that 40 percent of men are abusers -- a disgraceful statistic! No less shocking is the statistic that 19 percent of the women reported serious physical violence at the hands of their spouse.
If this is the state of gender relations in the home, how can we expect to see equality of women at the societal level? The report shames all Bangladeshi men.
There can be no more pressing societal need than the equality of women and the treatment of women. In all spheres from education to healthcare to nutrition to employment women lag behind men, and this is something which we have worked hard to address as a nation.
The lesson here is that we have clearly not worked anything like hard enough and that we are still far way from where we need to be. There can be no greater evidence of the subordinate status of women than the fact that fully 40 percent of them are subject to physical violence in their own homes. If Bangladeshi men cannot treat their wives as equals and cannot understand that such behaviour is unacceptable then it shows that they have a long way to go.
Men must understand that women are their equals under the law of the land, all religious codes, and simple morality, and that spousal abuse is the most serious of crimes and is never acceptable under any circumstances. Clearly, this simple truth has escaped too many Bangladeshi men. The issue should be addressed nationally.
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