'You get what you deserve': The minds behind gender-based violence

Illustration: TBS

How men generally think, treat, or respond to women must be very rotten. Patriarchy, misogyny, sadistic thoughts—you name it—our fellow men seem to have it all. Just a while back, I wrote about how the breach of cybersecurity is taking its toll on women. Now I am penning this in response to the murder of a first-year Honours student at Jhalakathi Government Women's College at the hands of her husband, Anu, a local leader of the ruling party's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League.
The woman allegedly had an extramarital affair, which led the husband to think he could kill her. Moreover, if you dive into your Facebook feed, chances are that you too saw someone you know commenting in favour of the man killing his wife. Why? Because that's how it has been in society forever – women are seen as anything but human. Now, I'm not condoning that the wife had taken a lover other than the husband himself, but it certainly does not mean the husband, or anyone else, can kill her.
I was baffled seeing my peers supporting the killing by saying, "you get what you deserve." According to them, if not outright killed, a woman must be chastised in front of the public to teach them a lesson for getting involved in extramarital affairs. But ironically, most of them believe that men can do almost anything, regardless of the highest laws of the land, and that too with absolute impunity. 
Let us come back to the story – according to police, Anu wrote on his Facebook that his wife was having an extramarital affair on Sunday night. He stabbed her to death on Monday morning following a scuffle at the Jhalakathi municipality Eco Park. Later, Anu confessed his crime on his social media handle and surrendered to the police. 
Luckily, I have not yet encountered any media organisations sensationalising the news of the woman's extramarital affair. Though, if I had seen the news being sensationalised, it would not have surprised me.
This may sound like a trivial story, but the implications are much worse for women as reports of domestic violence regularly make the rounds in social media and news media outlets. According to research, state representatives, political actors, and even regular citizens often rob women's agency. In contrast, experts on women's rights, such as feminist lawyers, activists, and journalists, are working on women's agency and broader issues surrounding sexual violence. 
This does not mean only women should discuss GBV (gender-based violence)-related topics. Women's rights advocates rightly raise the question of why so many male activists are outspoken in the media about human rights violations, such as forced disappearances and torture in detention but fail to include the high rate of GBV in their discussions of these issues.
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad reports showed that in 2022, a total of 715 women were raped, 226 were gang-raped, 38 were killed after rapes, eight committed suicide after rapes, 163 were sexually harassed, 118 were victims of stalking, and seven committed suicide after stalking. 
According to the rights group Ain o Salish Kendra, in 2022, 936 women were raped, 47 were killed after rapes, seven committed suicide after rapes, 161 were sexually harassed, and seven committed suicide after harassment. And according to government and non-government sources, there has been an average increase of 350 cases per month under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act compared to five years ago. 
Reviewing the information from police headquarters indicates that, starting in 2018, the number of cases under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act increased annually. The two years of widespread coronavirus pandemics in 2020 and 2021 saw the most significant increases in the number of cases registered, by 39% and 36%, respectively. 
In just a few months, incidences this year have risen by 5% compared to 2018.
Women's rights activists argue that everything from family, education, and health to gender discrimination in the judicial system contributes to the oppression of women. To put things into perspective, Bangladesh ranked 71st out of 146 nations in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) "Global Gender Gap Report 2022" on gender discrimination published in July last year. 
However, Bangladesh's standing in 2018 was 48th. 
Even though we have made a lot of progress in certain areas, much is still to be done to secure women's basic human rights. A fundamental shift must be secured with the aid of pertinent organisations, activists, and legislators to stop violence against women in every form. If we want to guarantee that women have the same rights and advantages as men, we must uphold their human rights.

Muhammad Zayed Hossen Jubayer. Illustration: TBS

Muhammad Zayed Hossen Jubayer is a third-year Honours student majoring in Finance and Banking at Govt. BM College, Barishal.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.