Marginalisation and Impunity: Violence Against Women and Girls in the Chittagong Hill Tracts - Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission

Bangladesh is a signatory to a number of international conventions intended to secure women’s rights. Drawing from various international human rights instruments, such as the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007; the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, 1979 (CEDAW); the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 1993 (DEVAW) this report examines selected cases of violence against women and girls in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in 2011 and 2012.  This report also discusses relevant legal contexts and, based on four key principles, provides recommendations to the government and civil society to address violence against women and girls in the region.

The report emphasises that militarisation and transmigration programs illegally settling Bengalis in the CHT that started in full swing from 1976 onwards have created extreme vulnerability and poverty for the Indigenous Peoples, and have deeply affected indigenous women and girls’ safety and security in the CHT.

Impunity has been the single most important factor contributing to increased incidents of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in the CHT. The biases of the administrative, political and judicial systems prevent access to equality and justice by Indigenous Peoples and minorities. This report stresses that the relationship of Indigenous Peoples with law enforcement agencies is vitally important in the CHT. Local authorities and police stations have more political influence and fewer financial resources, both factors that can be obstacles in addressing SGBV.