Kabir Hossain
In late November 2013, Shima (not her real name), eight months pregnant at that time, came to the Judge Court in Kishoreganj district along with her two year old son to lodge a case. She approached the crowded building hesitantly looking visibly worried. “It was a first time experience for me going to a court house and I was quite uncomfortable in the surroundings,” said Shima after a few months.
While standing in the crowded area Shima had recalled many scary stories she heard in the last couple of weeks from her close acquaintance about how women were harassed by unknown men for money in the district court area. Stories like these made her shudder in fear about the eminent danger. However, in the end, her resolve to fight a legal battle against her rapist gave her the courage to continue to climb the last few stair steps to arrive at the court verandah.
Shima was not alone. Jasmine, who is accused of trafficking children by her sister-inlaw, came to the court for the first time too. Asma came to see her son who is being produced to the court for trial. Nargis came with a petition to settle a “mistaken divorce” case with her husband. All of these women have the same predisposition about the courts – it’s a difficult place for women. And, this is not only in Kishoreganj. A survey done in 2012 by the Judicial Strengthening Project (JUST) shows that, “91% of women felt uncomfortable entering a court” and this can easily deter women not to seek “legal remedies for offences committed against them.”
Luckily for Shima, Jasmin, Asma and Nargis, the Kishoreganj court building was surprisingly different. Thanks to the women and family-friendly facilities along with a range of capacities and tools supported by the Judicial Strengthening (JUST) Project – a joint initiative by the Supreme Court and UNDP, their experience was nothing like those who came to this court even a year ago. The court building now has a waiting room exclusively for women with an attached toilet. That waiting room soon became Shima’s informal support network. Women who wait in that room encouraged each other and shared information and tips; and Shima needed all of it.
While working in a farm, Shima was raped which led to an unwanted pregnancy. The perpetrator “managed” leaders of the local community and offered Shima Tk8,000 in exchange to settle the “incidence.” It was already a difficult choice for Shima to refuse the deal and to decide to take the rapist to the court. However, once in the court, Shima realised, the waiting room was the critical support that she needed to maintain her resolve to continue the battle. “Without this room, it would have been difficult for me to wait in this crowded place,” said Shima. It was like a safe haven for many like her who echoed the same sentiment.
For many poor women, delay in justice due to procedural complicacies is equivalent to denying them justice. After all, most simply do not have the means to continue the fight. Hence, the project has also introduced a case management committee (CMC) which includes various public functionaries of the district, including the police, department of women development, etc to improve the rate of case dispensation through offering integrated solutions to bottlenecks. And lastly, the project helped the judges to acquire new tools at their disposal to settle cases quickly. For example, by using the newly acquired “mediation,” a judge in the Kishoreganj family court could end the two years of separation between Nargis and her husband in a matter of two months.
Since June 2012, UNDP partnered with the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to improve access to justice through the Judicial Strengthening Project (JUST), especially for underprivileged and vulnerable groups. The project is supporting courts in three districts (Dhaka, Kishoreganj and Rangamati) to improve the overall management and dispensation of justice, especially for vulnerable women and persons with disability.
Overall, the measures seem to be delivering the promised results. When the project did a follow-up survey in 2014, 100% of the female respondents expressed satisfaction in the improvement of facilities and overall management of cases compared to the baseline. Not surprisingly, another study on the family courts in the three pilot districts reveals that in just one year, the number of cases filed in those courts in 2014 has increased by 18% compared to 2013.
UNDP and Bangladesh Supreme Court are also trying to figure out how benefits like these can be made available in every court house in Bangladesh. It might not be long when there will be no dreadful stories out there to make women seeking justice, like Shima, shudder in fear.
Kabir Hossain works for the Judicial Strengthening Project of UNDP Bangladesh as Communications Officer.
See more at:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/juris/2015/mar/28/promoting-access-justice-women#sthash.lnk4hogc.dpuf
