XV Edition GIZ Law Journal

BANGLADESH

BANGLADESH

through Restorative Justice in Bangladesh Accessto justice forwomen

By: Anja Barth

Gender-based discrimination is a daily reality in Bangladesh – within the justice system and the society as a whole. The access to formal justice structures is cumbersome, difficult to reach and not affordable for many women. Discrimination against women is obvious also when accessing legal aid or informal local dispute arbitration mechanisms. Accordingly, a survey in 2013 showed that up to 25 % of women would go nowhere to get justice and only around 20 % would go to the formal justice system. On the other hand, up to 55 % of women would use informal local arbitration services to get justice, through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms by elected local representatives or a respected community member. The ‘Justice and Prison Reform for Promoting Human Rights and Preventing Corruption’ in Bangladesh builds upon the opportunities of informal justice mechanisms for ensuring access to justice especially for women in rural Bangladesh. The traditional mediation process, known Violence against women in Bangladesh has been a serious social, economic and cultural problem and this reality affects the quality of justice to which many women have access. The article, written by Anja Barth in 2018, highlights that the implementation of Restorative Justice equips low-income and rural women with the possibility to access justice systems. The discrimination and poverty of many of these women is an obstacle to accessing formal justice systems, so implementing alternative mechanisms that involve community actors is an efficient and effective solution for these cases. The Project Justice and Prison Reform for Promoting Human Rights and Preventing Corruption in Bangladesh worked on the opportunities of informal justice mechanisms for ensuring access to justice especially for these women who are in a very vulnerable situation.

as shalish, is practiced widely in Bangladesh. Shalish, however, is often biased and habitually excludes women. A survey in 2017 showed that shalish lacked inclusive mediation as well as proper monitoring and suffered from traditional patriarchal power structures. Decisions were commonly imposed instead of agreed, women were not allowed to talk and usually not permitted to represent themselves. Most shalishkars (persons conducting the shalish) are men, and religious or family barriers can prevent women from participation. One responded said “If the offender was a woman, punishment was very rigorous. [...] If the victim was a woman, they would often receive crude remarks from the shalishkars as a warning, despite being victims”. Over the past 25 years, NGOs in Bangladesh have introduced mediation techniques which deal with disputes in a more structured and inclusive way. While these less biased modern mediation techniques

are a great step forward towards gender-neutral and inclusive alternative dispute resolution, more efforts should be geared towards equal access to justice for women in Bangladesh. The project thus introduced the concept of Restorative Justice for a set of disputes next to offering modern mediation. Restorative Justice is based on the two principles of reparation and mediation. Reparation puts the focus on repairing the harm caused while mediation ensures that interested parties to the dispute come together to discuss its causes and impact. Restorative Justice allows the victim, the offender and other concerned stakeholders to negotiate an agreement together with a trained facilitator. The facilitator makes sure that decisions taken are comprised of four aspects: reparation, crime prevention, referral and reintegration. This helps to solve conflicts, prevent reoccurrence of an offence and to restore community harmony.

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