The highest number of rapes in Bangladesh
The most in the history of remembrance
The number of rape cases in Bangladesh, a review of the data shows that there is a 'culture of rape' in the country at present. ‘Rape culture’ refers to a culture where every woman, child or adolescent girl in the society can be a victim of a situation like rape. According to police statistics alone, there were 5,400 rapes in Bangladesh in 2019. According to this data, the rape rate in Bangladesh is 3.80, which means that out of every 1 lakh women and children, about 4 women and children have been raped, which is the highest in the history of memory. We see that in 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2016, the rape rate per lakh was 0.39, 2.38, 2.38 and 2.45 per lakh respectively. In terms of statistics alone, the increase in the rate of rape in 2019 is about 1.35 per lakh or one-third compared to 2016 (Bangladesh Police Headquarters website, 2019).
However, the level of reported violence or abuse against women and children is much higher. In 2016 and 2017, the rate was 6.17 and 8.21 per lakh respectively. And in the first 6 months of 2019, there were 10,159 cases of violence against women and children, and considering the increase in the rate, it is almost double the previous one. On the other hand, the Law and Arbitration Center (LASC) says that the number of rapes has doubled in 2019 as compared to 2016. While the total number of rape cases of women and children was 632 in 2016, it has increased to 1,413 in 2019 (Ask, 2020). The actual facts are much more than that. Considering the statistics, these statistics do not give any opportunity to deny the culture of rape that exists in Bangladesh.
According to Deutsche Welle, according to a foreign survey, the rape rate in Bangladesh is 10 per lakh and we are ranked 40th in the world. South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Sweden are among the countries that have fallen short of us in terms of rape. But in my opinion, most of these countries are in poverty and civil war in Africa. However, according to statistics, 8 out of every 100,000 women are raped in India, which is less than in Bangladesh. In the developed countries of the West, where the rate of rape is higher than in Bangladesh, there is wide biological, cultural, class and urban economic and social inequality. Each of the states mentioned is ‘heterogeneous’ in different characteristic elements.
Not biological, social
Rape is commonly seen as a biological harassment of men. This means that although rape is a biological act, it also occurs for social reasons. That is why it needs social remedies, not biological ones. Rape is a serious violent crime as a whole. According to the published data, an average of 4 incidents of rape take place every day in Bangladesh, but in most cases, the incidents of rape are not disclosed or are not actually disclosed and the reasons are social. When the incident of rape comes to light, the disgraced woman suffers more than the disgraced man.
The position of most of the raped women and children is socially marginalized. Mainly marginalized rape workers, low-income professional women, poor low-educated students, housewives and indigenous women. According to a study by Police Staff College (2016), 80.9 percent of raped women and children have no monthly income and 19.4 percent of women and children have a monthly income of less than Tk 10,000. Their average monthly income is only 2,841 rupees. Due to which the cases of these women and children do not have the opportunity to participate equally in the judicial process and they do not get justice. In most cases, rapists have better economic, social status and status than women and children. According to the same study, the social status of rapists includes 14.9 per cent children of the affluent class, 9.1 per cent children / relatives of politicians and 4.6 per cent political leaders and activists. Here the social inequality of economically self-sufficient and socially empowered rapists with the social position of marginalized raped women and children acts as a catalyst behind the rape.
