Violence against Women with Chronic Maternal Disabilities in Rural Bangladesh

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Violence against Women with Chronic Maternal Disabilities in Rural Bangladesh.
 

– Reported, January 24, 2013

 

Maternal disabilities with long-lasting consequences have various adverse effects on the health and well-being of millions of women worldwide. Chronic maternal disabilities most frequently occur among women who survive life-threatening, acute maternal complications and are most widespread in resource-poor countries where maternal health services are often inadequate and of low quality . Within these contexts, acute maternal morbidities have been reported among economically-disadvantaged populations, particularly those living in rural settings with less access to professional obstetric services.

Chronic disabilities resulting from severe acute complications include but are not limited to the following: uterine prolapse—sliding of the uterus from its normal position in the pelvic cavity into the vaginal canal; stress incontinence—an involuntary loss of urine during physical activity; and vesicovaginal fistula (VVF)—an abnormal opening between the bladder and the vagina. These chronic conditions typically trigger a host of co-morbidities, increasing the overall suffering of the affected women.

Bangladesh is a patriarchal society where women have limited education and participation in the labour force. Most women rely on their marital union for economic support in absence of the means to live independently outside the marriage. These factors contribute to their persistent low status in Bangladesh. Succession in Bangladesh is organized along the patrilineal lines; consequently, biological paternity of the child becomes a crucial social issue that necessitates surveillance and control over women’s sexuality and reproduction .

Within such a context in Bangladesh, it is not surprising that attitudes favouring violence against women are common, and the reported prevalence of such violence is high.In the Bangladesh context, where the level of violence against women is already high , rates of female education are low, and women are typically economically dependent on their husbands, the added burden of having a chronic disability jeopardizes a woman’s position in the household and broader social structure and increases the likelihood of violence. The added burden of suffering from such a disability and the diminished self-worth that ensues appears to foster more profound sentiments of female inferiority, disempowerment, and a willingness to accept gender-based violence, which needs to be addressed.

This study examining violence inflicted on women due to chronic maternal disabilities highlights yet another layer of injustice and hardship endured by women living in a South Asian context where females play a subordinate role. The results emphasize the need to develop programmatic approaches to: prevent chronic maternal disabilities; educate the family and the community about causes and prevention of these conditions; and enhance opportunities for women outside marriage through education and employment leading to enhancement of their status and rights in the household, community, and broader society, making them less vulnerable to violence and more knowledgeable of their rights as human beings.

CREDITS:
Ruchira T. Naved, Lauren S. Blum, Sadia Chowdhury,Rasheda Khan, Sayeda Bilkis, and Marge Koblinsky
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/      

 

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