(Letter)Violence against women

With the world going forward with the integrated efforts of men and women, we are still committing barbaric crimes against women. As far as the newspaper reports and personal experiences are concerned, the incidents of women repression in our country range from eve-teasing to rape and killing.

There is no denying that a girl experiences more hurdles and bitterness than a boy does. Facing eve- teasing is a normal phenomenon of their lives on their way to schools, colleges, universities or workplaces. Refusal of 'so called' love or marriage proposals leads them to be victim of inhuman activities. A report published recently says that as many as 67 teenage girls were killed in Bangladesh during the last decade due to the refusal of love or marriage proposals. However, many incidents go unnoticed.

Acid violence is not a new menace for women. We have the experience of seeing so many deformed faces. Although the incidents of acid throwing have decreased a little bit owing to the implementation of strict laws, other forms of torture are on the rise. A few months back, miscreants pour petrol into a sleeping teenage, an HSC examinee, and set her on fire, leaving one third of her body burnt. We came to know about this horrific crime when she was struggling for life in the burn unit of DMCH. This is just one of the examples of how they are treated.

Anybody living in the country can figure out the extent of women repression if he just takes a look at the mass media. The news of torture and killing of wives by their husbands, mainly because of dowry and spousal quarrels, is very rampant. Don't these activities degenerate them into beasts? Aren't they a disgrace to humanity?

In our male dominated society, being a boy is considered to be a privilege and it is largely responsible for the discrimination against women. The obsolete mindset and the attitude of society towards women have to be changed and everybody must be provided with equal opportunities. However, the culprits found guilty of committing violence against women and violating their basic rights must not go unpunished. How can we think of a better Bangladesh leaving half the population in distressed condition?