‘Men have to come forward to prevent violence against women’ 

Men have to come forward to end violence against women as they are responsible for the crime, speakers said at a seminar.

ActionAid organised the discussion titled "Violence Against Women – It's a Men's Issue" at a hotel in Cox's Bazar on Thursday, said a press release. 

The programme began with the screening of a video on the story of a victim of domestic violence in a Rohingya camp. 

"Violence is one of the tools used to suppress women in our society," said Saki A Kausar, a lawyer in the Cox's Bazar Judge's Court. 

He said men are responsible for violence against women. So they needed to come forward to end the problem, he added.

Officials of various United Nations agencies, who took part in the discussion, think that men are involved in every incident of violence against women in one way or another. 

Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid, said some men in the society are responsible for violence against women but there is no chance to blame the rest. 
Every man in the family and society must work together to ensure the co-existence of men and women by preventing violence against women, she added. 
Farah Kabir also highlighted the need to prevent violence against Rohingya women.

A recent study found that men were involved in 94% of the organised violence against women in the Rohingya community in Bangladesh.

Additional Commissioner of the Office for Refugee Relief and Repatriation Mohammad Shamsud Douza said Rohingya men are violent towards women in the camps over minor issues. 

It is not possible to change their culture overnight, he said. However, he said that everyone, including development agencies, should work together to prevent the violence.

At the end of the seminar, an interactive theatre show on domestic violence against women was shown. 
Later, ActionAid officials and government officials in charge of the Rohingya camp took part in an open discussion. 

The discussants emphasised the importance of the participation of Rohingya women as the representatives of the camp. 

The seminar was organized as part of a 16-day programme starting on 25 November on the occasion of the Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.