A book titled ‘In Search of Justice: Untold Tales of Domestic Violence Survivors’ was launched in the city on Tuesday.
It explores the justice-seeking journeys of domestic violence survivors during the pandemic as the book presents case studies of 12 women across three districts.
The book observed that domestic violence remained pervasive across Bangladesh, but the Covid-19 crisis and movement restrictions worsened difficulties faced by women while seeking redress from domestic violence. Access to services became even more constrained, it added.
“It’s essential to make all services including justice delivery available at all times, under any circumstances, for survivors of violence as they seek remedy,” said Law Minister Anisul Huq during the launching of the book.
“Looking ahead, it is important to find ways to support women and girls, especially those at risk and help them recover from the constraints created by the pandemic,” he said.
The publication is based on a research commissioned by GIZ’s Rule of Law Programme, a joint initiative under the Ministry of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Ambassador of Federal Republic of Germany in Dhaka Achim Tröster joined the minister at the ceremony, organised on the occasion of the International Women’s Day and 50 years of German Development Cooperation in Bangladesh.
The book “is not only for those who are telling these impressive and heartbreaking stories…The book is for and about people who are oppressed and those who are suffering from real conditions that still exist,” he said.
Co-Chair of Asiatic 360Ms Sara Zaker recited from the book. Dr Imran Matin, Executive Director at BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, and Ms Promita Sengupta, Head of Programme on Rule of Law, GIZ Bangladesh, made opening remarks. Law Secretary Md. Golam Sarwar was the distinguished guest at the ceremony
