Politics, Power and Sexual violence: Perspective Bangladesh -Md Jahidul Islam

Sexual violence is a worldwide problem that affects every civilization. This issue has quickly permeated our entire culture and developing into a national concern. Sexual harassment globally is perceived as an offensive act aimed at violating women’s fundamental human rights and violating their dignity. It is a detrimental issue of society because of this harmful effect on women’s bodies and minds—sexual harassment behaviors that humiliate, intimidate and coerce female personal attacks. The overall definition of sexual assault is a physical, psychological, and emotional violation of a sexual act. Sexually inflict on someone without their consent is the central theme of sexual violence.
The final stage of sexual violence is rape. Are rape and fornication same thing under Islamic law? Some people believe that are the same thing. Rape and adultery are clearly not the same thing in the Islamic sharee’ah. Fornication is defined as two people responding to have sexual relations with each other, and fornicators are liable to the Hadd (Corporal Penalty) under Islamic law. On the other hand, rape is when one person pushes himself upon another who has refused to engage in sexual activity. The rapist receives the hadd (Corporal penalty) for fornication and must pay the woman with a Mahr (Bridal gift) appropriate to her social position. Allah Subhanahu said that ‘Do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as away’. (Surah 17:32) So, Sexual violence and fornication both are crimes.

According to Equal Rights Advocates, a women’s law center in the United States, 90 to 95 percent of sexually harassed women experience terrible negative emotions, which include anxiety, melancholy, headaches, sleep difficulties, weight loss or gain, vomiting, low self-esteem, and sexual dysfunction. In addition, sexual harassment victims in the United States lose $4.4 million in pay and 973,000 hours of unpaid leave per year. Another report from The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that roughly a quarter of women had been sexually assaulted since the age of 16, with one in every 14 women having been raped or attempted rape. Furthermore, World Health Organization (WHO) reports showing that on “Violence against Women,” nearly one-third of the world’s women are victims of sexual violence. Bangladesh ‘MAHILA PARISHAD’ said in a press conference that every day approximately 5 women were victims of violence in the last year. The latest survey of ‘SAJIDA’ Foundation shows that 5.71 percent of Bangladeshi girls are being sexually assaulted before entering the age of 10. Most of the rape accidents happened in Bangladesh, the rapist has the relation with political party who is in power. There is always an imbalance of power between the victim and the rapist. The enforcement of the law on a rapist is a massive problem. There are different reasons for sexual harassment in other countries or conditions.
A well-known feminist dictum is that “pornography is the theory, rape is the reality.” Pornography is a
Communication material for sexual arousal. When a child is arrested as a rapist, we are very shocked. A few months ago, a piece of news opened one’s eyes: Daily Kaler Kantha reported on September 17, 2020 that a nine-year-old child rapist was arrested. He raped a five-year-old girl. This news manifests that available pornography is responsible for the child being a rapist. However, a child is not able from his childhood to know about sex or sexual matter. Then how is this possible? Research shows that for this issue, available pornography is the main reasonable fact.
Lack of law enforcement is another cause of sexual violence. Sometimes the rapist was quickly arrested, but the judiciary was lengthened in the name investigation. As a result, many times, the rapist is released without getting proper punishment. In this situation, the government should take proper legislation to stop sexual harassment. Unfortunately, there is no strong enactment to remove “sexual harassment” in Bangladesh. It is not to say that sexual harassment has been left unaddressed in our laws, but the government should take some notable legal development in this regard.

If we think about the section 509 of the Penal Code 1860, CrPC 1898, 2014 DNA law, and section 10 of the ‘NARI-o-SHISHU NIRJATAN AIN’ 2000, it ought to be identified the culprits quickly and punish them without a lengthy investigation process. The lack of proper enforcement of the law is the main catalyst for the contemporary sexual harassment issue. Many people are urging the authority to amend the legislation that is before the court. But in a country where the judiciary is not fully autonomous, in a situation where the law is politically driven, in a country where the abuser is released on political consideration, and the victims are humiliated. In this situation, the implementation of the law is more important than the amendment of the law.
The Indian Supreme Court recently ruled that even if you are married, you must consent to sexual intercourse. Otherwise, you will be charged with marital rape. In this case, it is impossible to determine whether sexual intercourse is consensual or non-consensual. Some feminist organizations and individuals in our country have already voiced their support for this declaration. On the other hand, fornication is not a crime of our law. It is not offensive to do sexual intercourse with any man or woman. When a country’s law allows you to have sexual relations with an unlawful man or woman, the threat of rape or adultery rises. The other vital issue of sexual harassment is indecent cinema. Indecent cinema and foul scenes are a threatening issue for our culture. According to the video pornography act, 2012 and digital security act, 2018 indecent movie or foul scene, these are all clear violations. If a child visualizes these indecent sceneries from his childhood, He could be a potential rapist in the future.

In the workplace, Transport, Educational institutions, online media, and others places are sexually assaulted physically, mentally, verbal or non-verbal way. In these circumstances, we should take some effective steps to prevent this crime. In this situation, the government should take some steps to avoid this offense. Firstly, to turn off this harassment from public transport BRTS authority may monitor the vehicles through the technical device. This can be a solution to stop any crime in the vehicle. Secondly, to prevent sexual crime from educational institutions different academic building for male and female students can be a great solution. Besides, to take strong steps against sexual assault like studentship cancel of offenders. Furthermore, moral education courses should be made compulsory at every level of the teaching system. Thirdly, the implementation of law properly against this crime can be another solution. In this case, ‘NARI O SHISHU NIRJARAN AIN 2000’ should be practical. Finally, accessibility of available pornography ought to be prohibited on internet sites by BTRS and the Cyber Crime authority. A child can be a potential rapist by browsing pornography videos on the internet.
Sexual harassment victims can suffer significant psychological effects, including anxiety, depression, headaches, phobias, panic reactions, sleep disorders, nausea, lowered self-esteem, and sexual dysfunction. Besides, in the higher study setting, student sexual harassment victims may feel pressured to drop a class and experience physical and psychological distress. Utmost, a rape incident affects all women in the world. They are not sex objects. As human beings, we should respect them.

The author of this article is studying at the University of Chittagong