Moral education can check violence against women, make homes peaceful sanctuaries

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DHAKA, June 28, 2018 (BSS/UNICEF FEATURE) – The home is often equated with
a sanctuary, a place where individuals seek love, safety, security and
shelter. For some women, the home is a place that imperils lives and breeds
some of the most drastic forms of violence.

Moral education rendered at home, school, by tutors, elders and parents
can be an effective means to reduce violence against women in the society. A
home considered as a safe haven for women sometimes turns into a hell when
they are subjected to inhuman atrocities.

As the children are the foundation of a society and torchbearers of a
nation, President of Nari Sangbadik Kendro Nasimun Ara Haq Minu says that a
teacher or an influencer must take care of the moral training and basic
qualities for them. It will eventually effect the fate of the country as a
whole, if such education can be provided as understudies in school and
universities.

It is also important to educate the children about the phenomenal
activists and legends who have exemplified strength, shown character to fight
against all odds and championed the right causes to bring revolutionary
changes, she added.

Domestic violence is a burden on numerous sectors of the social system and
quietly, yet dramatically, affects the development of a nation… batterers
cost nations’ fortunes in terms of law enforcement, health care, lost labour
and general progress.

Social scientists say that an effective response to violence must be
multi-sectoral; addressing the immediate practical needs of women
experiencing abuse; providing long-term follow up assistance; and focusing on
changing those norms and attitudes that undermine women’s full human rights.

Available research studies say that illiteracy coupled with low level of
education, poor socio-economic status, women with no income and urban
domicile have been cited as risk factors for domestic violence. Unmarried,
separated or divorced status or being in a live-in relationship have been
known to be associated with violence against women.

Minister for Women and Children affairs, Meher Afroz Chumki urged all
people to raise a countrywide social movement to end violence against women.
“As the government created huge scopes for the women and got success, public
expectation increased,” she said.

In Bangladesh, violence against women (VAW) was a serious problem, which
has now considerably fallen low after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s
government launched several schemes to contribute to the long term
sustainable socio-economic development through poverty alleviation in rural
areas.

By supporting the poor women through development programmes as indicated in
the Bangladesh Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper1 (PRSP), the
curse of violence against women has now gone down.

These schemes under various titles encouraged the implementation of
policies to prevent violence and support the survivors by enhancing their
capacities, improving information and providing support to NGOs and civil
society.

The government also put its efforts into action in changing the attitudes
and behaviour of men, women, boys and girls to reduce the violence against
women.

The health sector has unique potentials to deal with violence against
women, particularly through reproductive health services, which most women
will access at some points in their lives. Few doctors, nurses or other
health personnel have the awareness and the training to identify violence as
the underlying cause of women’s health problems.

Doctors can help prevent violence against women by identifying abuse early,
providing victims with necessary treatment and referring them to appropriate
care.

Health services must be in places where women feel safe, are treated with
respect, are not stigmatized, and where they can receive quality and informed
support.

The government is working to support the extension of services for
survivors of the gender-based violence with immediate care, relief and
rehabilitation through a comprehensive package including the expansion,
renovation and improvement of the existing shelter system.