Safe Home, Safe Societies: Preventing Violence against Women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts - Meghna Guhathakurta
The CHT has been a conflict zone for a long time. The non realization of all the provisions of the CHT Accord reached between the Government of Bangladesh and the Parbottyo Chattogram Jana Shanghiti Samiti (PCJSS) has resulted in a failure to bring peace and stability to a region which is still ridden by old problems as much as they are
acquiring new dimensions.
The population of the CHT, according to the 2001 census, stands at 1.06 million, which is 0.14 percent of the national population of 129.25 million.1 Over a period of 50 years, the density of population in the area has gone up from 22 per sq. km. in 1951 to 78 in 2001, marking an increase of 354.54 percent. In 1991, the CHT had a population of 0.97
million, of which the Hill people constituted 0.50 million and the Bengalis 0.47 million (Cited in Mohsin 2003). According to the last census (2001), the total number of indigenous people in the country was 1.41 million, while the population of Bangladesh was 129.25 million. The population of Bangladesh increased to 142.6 million in 2007
(BBS, 2008). Another estimate says that the population in the CHT increased to 1.333 million in the 2001 census due to an increasing number of people returning from the neighboring states of India and from other regions of the country.2 The ratio of Bangali and indigenous population is approximately 50-50 on average, but in some regions the
ratio of Bengali settlements to indigenous populations are as high as 70-30.
The demographic pressure of Bangladesh have led to continuous land encroachment over property that has been both privately owned by indigenous people as well as bestowed through customary rights. The institutions such as the Land Commission set up to resolve the land issue have remained weak, unrepresentative of indigenous voice and debates
surrounding them unresolved. On the other hand the internal political dissension and the changing dynamics of society and market have brought in added dimensions of exploitation that has left a once remote part of the country unprepared and vulnerable. It is in this context that I shall discuss the problems of Violence against Women in the
CHT.
Domestic violence
- Although domestic violence cases are under reported now, proper channels need to be developed through which women will feel safe and protected enough to call for help. Counseling service system needs to be stepped up and counseling for both victim and perpetrator is often needed. Since in the CHT there is a rich tradition of informal justice around the Karbari-Headman system, efforts need to be made to make it more gendersensitive and also maybe have a women volunteer force attached to it.
Child protection strategies
- Many of the victims of violence are children. In cases of child rape, it is almost always seen that the child had been left alone or unprotected. In the Hills women go out to work as frequently as men sometimes, since fetching water, or bringing in food from their land necessitates traveling distances. Organizations working in this area should take up child protection strategies and make sure they cover remote areas.
Revisiting and re-building social capital
Legal empowerment strategies
- Finally there is a dearth of legal awareness among women in the hills. Although there exists organizations who are involved in this sphere, there should be effort to expand their services as well as seek more innovative ways to make such lessons, meaningful and relevant to their daily lives.
