Is the acceptance of misogyny the cause of violent attacks against women?
Why is a blind eye so often turned to violent behaviour against women in Bangladesh? According to the United Nations (2013) report, 62% of men in Bangladesh-rural believed that women deserved to be beaten. 62% of men in rural Bangladesh overtly declaring in the United Nations report that women deserve to be beaten is truly telling upsetting. The sense of entitlement and authority that some men perceive they have to physically assault women echoes the misogynistic temperament embedded in society.
Speaking to Shahida Miah, a second-generation British Bangladeshi student regarding misogyny, rape culture and male entitlement within the Bangladeshi society:
‘I believe rape culture in Bangladesh sprouts from the idea that marrying off women as soon as they’re old enough alleviates the burden on parents…. The fact women are young, men feel entitled. The entitlement is given from the patriarchal society then gives men rights over women. Even as second-gen I can see it! Women are valued less than men. Our mothers, grandmothers, we see them.’
Shahida Miah, 2020.
Miah’s passionate statement articulates the culture of misogyny that is deeply rooted within Bangladeshi society. Despite being second-generation Bangladeshi, Miah highlights witnessing her mother and grandmothers struggles endured within the patriarchal society.
Additionally, a United Nations Women’s interview featuring Ayesha Khanam discusses the social attitudes still prevalent in Bangladesh: ‘the girl child is still perceived as a ‘burden’ in rural Bangladesh while teens in Dhaka face gender-based violence at home, public spaces and educational institutions’ (United Nations Women, 2019). This interview sheds light on the misogynistic mentality that has been conditioned through multiple generations that a female child is a financial and societal burden in families. The social attitude towards women, whether in the family hierarchy, the workplace or the bedroom; this cancerous mentality of females being viewed as ‘a burden’ must be eradicated to reform social and cultural attitudes towards women and girls.
Rape and gender-based violence should not be normalised. There needs to be swift legislative power to further protect women and young girls. The silent cries of survivors must not remain silent, but rather their voices must be exonerated from the societal stigma and victim-blaming. Without this reform within society, cancer will spread to the point that it is untreatable.
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