Misconceptions about the term “Domestic Violence”
Historically, weaker sections of society have been subject to oppression and violence. Women and children are in many cases oppressed and unprivileged and therefore in need of special care and attention. Patriarchal dominance and incidents of domestic violence against women has often been front page news.
As such, people have in many cases formed a strong presumption that men have a dominating nature.
Thus, the term domestic violence takes an one-sided meaning. Domestic violence encompasses a wide range of violent acts — including physical harm, verbal threats, sexual and even psychological abuse. Such acts are sometimes commited by one member of a family against another. The perpetrator or the victim can be a man or a woman or even a young member of a family. But men have always been seen as perpetrators due to historical evidence of unjust patriarchal domination. Existing legal regimes, prevalent social stigma and the rise of feminist movements are bi-products of the reaction against such male domination.
What is the Law in Bangladesh related to domestic violence?
In Bangladesh there are strict laws for the protection of women and children. The Penal Code 1860, Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000, Domestic Violence Act 2010, and The Dowry Prohibition Act 1980 are some of the most significant ones. There is, for example, no explicit provision in any such law for the protection of men’s rights — let alone a separate law for them. Moreover, the interpretation clause of the Domestic Violence Act does not specifically mention-that men can also be victims of such violence.
Absence of Specific Protection of Male Victims
Absence of legal and institutional protection of men assumes that men can never be victims. As Deutsche Welle (DW) (Germany’s international broadcaster) reports: “ Women in Bangladesh are far more likely to be victims of domestic violence than men, but a growing number of men complain that they are also facing abuse. Experts say gender-neutral laws are needed to tackle the problem.”
As NBC News reported, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard “battled in court over an op-ed Heard wrote for The Washington Post in 2018, in which she described surviving domestic violence – without mentioning Depp by name. Depp sued for $50 million in damages. The jury unanimously found that Heard could not substantiate her allegations against Depp and that she knew her claims of abuse were false when she published her 2018 essay.” The verdict of the case is a glaring example of the shifting trends related to domestic discord. In Bangladesh, an organization named Bangladesh Men’s Rights Foundation (BMRF), as DW reports, was founded to organize events to raise awareness about male victims of domestic violence.
In 2020 the organization published a survey (as DW reports) which depicted that 80% of married men have faced mental abuse by their wives and family members. DW noted that: “ But it’s unclear how representative of Bangladeshi society the study is as it was just based on messages and phone calls the organization received from men seeking help.” As DW details: “Miti Sanjana, a lawyer practicing in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, has also noticed a rise in domestic violence cases where men are victims. She argues for gender-neutral laws to address the issue.”
The Social Barriers
According to a 2002 report by the World Health Organization (WHO), women think about commiting suicide more than men. But men actually die by suicide more often. Leading to the question of whether there should be wider acceptance that men can also be victims of domestic violence and therefore deserve legal protections against such violence.
General Remedies
There is no explicit law in Bangladesh for the protection of male victims of domestic violence. Nevertheless, male victims can resort to some general remedies under section 193 of the penal code against false evidence, and section 319 and section 320 of the same code against hurt and grevious hurt according to Act-11 of The Laws of Bangladesh (Bangladesh official website of Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division). According to Act-75 of The Laws of Bangladesh, they can also file complaints to a magistrate under section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898.
Conclusion
Equality between men and women is vitally important. A bi-product of the move toward greater equality in Bangladesh, has rightly seen a remarkable upgraded status of women in all aspects of life.
In line with this, the notion of equality and equal protection of law also should require gender neutral laws for the equal protection of men (as DW reports, some in Bangladesh are calling for this). This legal gap results in a void which leads to suppression of voices against some forms of domestic abuse. Thus, it is a serious matter which if resolved will create greater social harmony for all.
