inner state of child rights in bangladesh 2017...

SSttaattee ooff CChhiilldd RRiigghhttss iinn BBaannggllaaddeesshh 22001177

March 2018Copyright © Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF)

ResearcherAzmi AkterProgram Officer, Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum

Edit and overall supervisionAbdus Shahid MahmoodDirector, Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum

Graphics & Cover DesignAshutosh Debnath

PrintPazian International

This publication has been produced with the financial assistance ofTerre des Hommes – Netherlands. The views expressed herein aresolely those of BSAF. The support from the partner does notconstitute endorsement of the opinions expressed.

DisclaimerThis report does not set out to be a comprehensive study. Theinformation presented in the report was collected from a number ofnewspapers. While care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of theinformation presented, the latter may not be exact and BSAF makesno representation or warranty that the report is free of error oromission. Readers should further be aware that laws and policiescited may have been amended or repealed since the time of writing.

State of Child Rights in Bangladesh 2017

2


3

Foreword

To establish an abuse, exploitation and discrimination free society isthe main mission of Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF). Inthis backdrop, BSAF publishes the State of Child Rights inBangladesh highlighting the vulnerabilities of the children every year.

State of Child Rights in Bangladesh-2017 is a compilation,analysis and comparison of different segments of child rightsviolation occurred and published in the newspapers duringJanuary to December 2017. BSAF, in this regard, monitored thechild abuse news published in ten top most circulatednewspapers of the country. The newspapers are: the dailyProthom Alo, the daily Ittefaq, the daily Jugantar, the dailySamakal, the daily Kalerkantho, the daily Sangbad, the dailyManabjameen, the Daily Star, the daily New Age and the dailyDhaka Tribune. The main objective of this endeavor is to draw theattention of the government, development activists, planners &researchers, civil society members and law enforcing agencies tothe issues of frequent violation of child rights and advocating tothe government and the civil society for protecting the rights ofthe children. I hope this document will inspire others to join in oureffort to protect children from abuse and exploitations.

I am very grateful to the Chairperson of BSAF and the BoardMembers as well for their guidance and suggestions regarding thisreport. I have to express highest gratitude to Terre des HommesNetherlands for their financial support to BSAF and particularly tothis report. I express my sincere thanks to the Hons. final yearstudents of Social Work department of Lalmatia College who havedone their internship at BSAF and assisted BSAF in doing theresearch works in this regard. Finally, I feel proud to acknowledgethe effort of my colleagues in BSAF secretariat for their hard workand all-out support in bringing out this report.

Abdus Shahid Mahmood Director, Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar ForumDhaka; March 2018

Executive Summary

Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) beingmandated to monitor child rights situation in Bangladesh,publishes the report titled “State of Child Rights inBangladesh” every year to depict the child rightsphenomenon throughout the immediate past year inBangladesh. Since the inception of this report in 1997,the methodology is stick to secondary sources mainly. Thecurrent report titled “State of Child Rights in Bangladesh-2017” has been produced through monitoring 10 nationalnewspapers from January to December 2017.

Bangladesh is running in the path of being a middleincome country is now regarded globally as an exampleof incredible progress in poverty decline, gender disparity,child schooling, child healthcare and sanitation in therecent years. However, the standard of child protectionand safety is deteriorating repeatedly in spite ofgovernment’s pledge to show zero tolerance against childrights violation. Despite of adequate number ofconstitutional and legal statues, scope of committingcrime against children in this country increases every yearbecause of lengthy legal procedure.

To improve child rights situation in Bangladesh, childbudget has been placed and the allocation has beenincreasing year by year. Yet, lack of proper planning andcoordination, 100 crore taka allocations of 2016-2017fiscal years child budget cannot be used for reducing thechild labourers and gender disadvantage. Also, there wasno notable progress in establishing a separate


4

Directorate for children Affairs. Moreover, in spite of heavyprotests by BSAF and human rights defenders,Government passed Child Marriage Restrained Act-2017in the parliament on 11 March 2017 keeping the specialprovision allowing child marriage below 18. Besides, 4years have passed and the rules of Children Act are yet tobe approved by the Government of Bangladesh.

This study found, a total 3845 children have beensubjected to various types of unsafe situations andviolence including murder and rape in 2017 which is morethan 7% higher than 2016. Half of the child rightsviolation incidents involved with road accidents, murder,rape, drowning, kidnapping and missing. Cases of Childmurder, rape and suicide have increased by 28%, 33%and 43% respectively in this year. Drowning and roadaccidents have increased by 11% and 42% respectively.

In 2017 overall sexual abuse and exploitations haveincreased by 30% than 2016. A total of 894 children weresubjected to different kinds of sexual abuse andexploitations in 2017 whereas 686 children faced suchcruelty in 2016. Among the incidents categorized assexual abuse and exploitations, gang rape increased by3%, murder after rape increased by 5%, suicide afterbeing raped increased by 250% and overall child rapeincreased by 33% which is a matter of concern. There isalso a notable increase of the incident of victim ofpornography and wounded by perverts’ attackrespectively by 73% and 77% in 2017.

In 2017, 177 children have been kidnapped by theperpetrator which is 3% less than last year. 98 children


5


6

were rescued by the law enforcement agenciesthroughout this year. A total of 365 children were thevictim of either kidnapping or missing.

Incidents like murder by unsafe parents, corporalpunishment and beaten in theft charges was mosttalked issues in 2016 which decreased respectively22%, 55% and 38% in 2017. Although corporalpunishment reduced more than 50% but thephenomenon of sexual harassment by teacher/tutor andthe act of attaching by the perverts while going schoolshave marked a sharp rise.

Though number of incidents of child trafficking wassignificantly fewer than the previous year, Bangladesh isdowngraded to Tier 2 watch list in the Trafficking inPersons Report 2017 which indicates that overalltrafficking situation has not been improved.

Numbers of recommendations were made by child rightsadvocates to improve overall child rights situations inBangladesh in different interviews published innewspapers, seminars and symposiums include: swifttrial of the cases of child rights violation especially childmurder and rape, establishment of victim supportcenters in all districts, formulation of the rules ofchildren act and therefore full implementation ofChildren Act-2013, expedite establishment of ChildDirectorate, strictly monitoring and controlling corporalpunishment, child pornography, child trafficking andchild marriage in Bangladesh.


7

Background

Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) is now anetwork of 269 child rights based organizations ofBangladesh. To monitor child rights condition ofBangladesh is one of the key activities of BSAF. Sinceinception, BSAF gathers relevant information on the childrights situations by screening daily newspapers. BSAF hasits own information resource center which functions as theinformation bank. In this backdrop, BSAF has beenpublishing a yearly report titled ‘State of Child Rights inBangladesh’ since 1997 which depicts overall child rightssituation of the country. The current report titled “State ofChildren in Bangladesh-2017” is the 19th report of suchkind, which has been prepared through using secondarydata only in contrast some of the previous reports wereproduced through using both primary and secondary data.

Objective of the Study

1. To acquire current data/statistics on different formsof child abuse and exploitations in Bangladesh

2. To visualize the overall situation and comparativeanalysis of child rights situation in Bangladesh.

3. To aware and make the civil society as well as thegovt. particularly the concerned Ministries moreresponsive about child rights in Bangladesh.

4. To address the policy dilemma or obstacles inimproving the livelihood of children in Bangladesh.

5. To make some recommendations to the governmentand civil society for protecting the rights of thechildren in Bangladesh.

Data Collection Technique

To collect the child rights related data of 2017, BSAF hasscanned a total ten most circulated and influentialnewspapers of Bangladesh that includes: the dailyProthom Alo, the daily Kaler Kantho, the daily Jugantar,the daily Somokal, the daily Ittefaq, the daily Songbad, thedaily Manobjomin, the Daily Star, the daily Dhaka Tribuneand the daily New Age to calculate child abuse andexploitation related incidents.

Methodology used

This report is a quantitative study based on secondarydata sources from the reports of daily newspapers inBangladesh. In this news report analysis study, we haveassessed the quantity of child rights news coverage,information and child safety security, violence againstchildren from national daily newspapers of Bangladesh.

Quantitative approaches

For quantitative data analysis we have categorized sixdifferent broad based areas of child rights violation suchas: i. Fatalities ii. Sexual abuse and exploitation, iii.Physical abuse & torture, iv. Abduction, missing andtrafficking, v. Injuries vi. Child marriage and others

Fatalities include: death by road accidents, killed/murder(killed for ransom, killed after sexual repression, killed forrevenge, killed for family disputes, killed by terrorists,


8


9

killed by brutal parents and other undefined reasons),suicide, drowned, electrocuted, death by fire, death bylightning strikes, death by medical negligence, death by illtreatment, boat capsize and other accidental deaths (roofcollapse, falling from roof, strangled while playing andanimal bite/attack etc)

Sexual abuse and exploitation include: Rape, attempt torape, sexual harassment and assault, killed after rape,eve teasing, wounded by perverts and victim ofpornography.

Abduction, missing, trafficking and others include:Kidnapped, rescued after being kidnapped, attempt tokidnap and prevented, killed after kidnapping, missing,rescued after missing, found dead/murdered aftermissing, trafficked, rescued after trafficked, theft of newborn baby, rescue of new born baby after theft, foundunknown baby and found dead body of unknown baby.

Torture and violence include: physical torture/punishment at educational institutions, Violence againstchild domestic workers, physical torture and beaten,torture by law enforcing agencies, acid violence andpolitical violence.

Injuries include: injured by road accidents, injured by fire,injured by electric shock, injured by attempt to kill, injuredby attempt to suicide and other accidental injuries (roofcollapse, falling from roof and others.)

Child Marriage includes: rescue from child marriage,victim of child marriage.


10

SSL Categories of Child Rights Violation 2017 2016 +/-(%)

1 Fatalities 1710 1441 18.67%

2 Sexual Abuse & Exploitation 894 686 30.32%

3 Kidnapping, Missing & Rescue 433 445 -2.70%

4 Torture & Violence 271 398 -31.91%

5 Injuries 231 235 -1.70%

6 Child Marriage 306 414 -20.31%

Total 3845 3589 7.13%

Findings and Analysis of the Study

A total 3845 incidents have been reported in 2017regarding various forms of Violence Against Children (VAC)and child safety issues. These incidents have increasedby 7% since the last year which is divided by six majorcategories. Among these, sexual abuse & exploitation hasthe highest growth rate which is more than 30%. Besides,fatality rate has a significant increase of 19%. There is adecrease of all other categories; among those, thedecrease of Torture & Violence and Child marriage isnotable respectively 32% and 20% since last year.

In general, VAC and children unsafe situation does nothave any varied trends among age groups, however,fatality and kidnapping and missing is higher among thechildren in 13-18 years age.

Fatality is the number one violence against children andchildren safety issue both for boys and girls, kidnapping& missing come second for boys, while sexual abuse &exploitation is first for girls. More than 95% victim ofsexual abuse & exploitation are girls. Girls at 4-12 ageare at the high risk of sexual abuse and exploitation.Among the incidents of child fatalities, suicide has thehighest death rate increased since last year. It hasincreased by 43% in 2017 than the year 2016. Increaserate of road accident is also high. The rate of murder hasincreased by 28% since the last year which is a clearindication that children’s security in this country at stake.

Murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse, torture andaccidents; among this five major incidence of violenceagainst children, 684 were boys, 1163 were girls and 46were unidentified by gender. But one thing is easy tounderstand with the large number of girl victims that thewomen section of this country still in a deprivingposition, prone to be killed, abused and attacked.Besides, government has been trying to prevent earlymarriage, but the success became faint when violenceagainst girls is rising.


11

According to the media reports, child rights violationincidents mostly occur in Dhaka city or in this division.277 children in Dhaka district were the victim of rape,murder, road accident, drowning or suicide. Besides inGazipur 101 and 81 in Narayanganj children havebecome the victims of these incidences.

IInncciiddeennttss ooff CChhiilldd FFaattaalliittiieess iinn 22001177


12

TType of Incident by Rank in 2017

Changes in Rank

from 2016

Number of

Incident in 2017

Number of

Incident in 2016

%

(1) Drowning - 391 352 11%

(2) Road Accident ↑1 357 252 42%

(3) Killed/Murdered ↓1 339 265 28%

(4) Suicide - 213 149 43%

(5) Misc. Accidental Deaths

- 167 93 80%

(6) Electrocuted ↑1 64 58 10%

(7) Death by lightning Strikes

↓1 49 63 22%

(8) Medical Negligence & Ill Treatment

- 35 30 17%

BSAF found a total 1710 cases of child fatalities from dailynewspapers in 2017 which is 19% higher than thefatalities reported in the year 2016. In 2016, a total 1441cases of fatalities were reported. The above chart shows,drowning, road accident, murder, suicide and differentaccidental deaths are the top five reason of child fatalityin 2017. Among the fatal cases of 2017, drowning is thetop reason since last couple of years and the murder isthird reason which was second in 2017.

Top five reasons constitute 1467 cases which is morethan 85% of the total child fatalities in Bangladesh.Among these 1467 children, 751 were boys and 670were girls and 46 were unidentified by gender. This studyfound that, the capital city Dhaka has the highest numberof children causalities and the other big cities of thecountry also have the greater number of VAC.


13


14

Dr

Mu

Ro Su Otow

ning

u rde

r

o ad�

Acci

dent

icid

e

ther

�Acc

iden

tal�D

ea

Jan

Feb

M

63

27

29

37

27

11

2

aths

33

Mar

Apr

May

14

26

44

33

21

20

28

16

53

19

16

28

65

6

� Jun

Jul

Aug

49

46

84

27

34

31

22

30

35

19

12

22

61

22

8

�� Se

pO

ctN

ov

46

38

27

21

25

20

27

16

29

18

23

26

22

71

5

Dec 8 51

37

17 9

MMoonn

tthhww

iissee

DDiiss

ttrriibb

uuttiioo

nn ooff

TToopp

FFiivv

ee CChh

iilldd FF

aattaall

iittiieess

-2200

1177


15

Drowning

Drowning has always been the prime unsafe situation forchildren in Bangladesh. In 2017, newspaper reported 391cases of child death due to drowning which is 11% higherthan 2016. BSAF recorded that 352 children died fromdrowning in 2016.

In 2017, Most of the children drowned in the water whileplaying, swimming, in flood and by boat capsize. 198children were between the ages of 1-6 years old, 100were 7-12 years old, and 55 children were 13-18 yearsold and 38 children’s age were unidentified. Among thetotal drowned children, 225 children were boys, 144children were girls and 22 children were not mentioned bythe gender in media reports.

In monsoon season, the numberof drowning increases. FromJune 2017- September 2017,223 children were drownedwhich is 57% of total death fromdrowning. Highest 84 cases ofdrowning recorded in August2017. Awareness buildingamong the parents is requiredin this situation. As majority ofthe children are under 6 yearsold, parents should look after sothat their children don’t fell intothe water.

1. Dhaka-272. Cox's Bazar-223. Chittagong-184. Cumilla-175. Gazipur and

Kishorganj-16

Top 5 Districtswith HighestCausality inDrowning


16

Child Murder

Child murder by the parents was the concerning issue lastyear but this year it decreases by 21.88 %. According toBSAF statistics assembled from newspapers monitoring,among 339 cases of child murder, 50 murders were doneby the parents. Most of children were missing before theyget killed and it has become doubled since the year 2016.

Among the murdered children, 56% were boys, 41% weregirls and 3% were unidentified or not mentioned by thegender. Analyzing the types child murder it is found that,

11-6 Years27%

7-12 Years22%

13-18 Years37%

Age not Identified

14%

Distribution of Murdered Children by AgeDistribution of Murdered Children by Age

56%41%

3%

Murdered Children by GenderBoys Girls Not Mentioned

75 children were found murdered after missing, 50children were killed by their parents, 26 children werekilled after kidnapping for ransom, 22 children were killedafter rape, 13 children were beaten to death and 13 childdomestic workers were killed by torture.

Several reasons of murder come up through the study.Such as, kidnapping and murder, family hatred, revengeagainst parents, dowry, rape and killing, extra maritalaffairs etc. Most of the children killed in the urban areas.


17

The top 5 districts wherechild murder took placeare:

Dhaka - 61Narayanganj - 24Gazipur - 21Mymensingh -15Sirajganj- 14

157 Children werekilled in DhakaDivision which is46% of total childmurder.

The highest numberof child murder tookplace in Dhaka (61)

18

Death by Road Accident

Road accident has always been a big problem for thecountry. Every year a lot of people died in road accidentand a large number of these human causalities arechildren. Since last year, the number of children died inroad accident has increased by 42% and it is the secondhighest cause of child fatality in 2017.

357 children died in road accidents this year. Amongthem, 212 are boys, 131 are girls and 14 weren’tmentioned by gender. 120 children have died betweenthe ages of 13-18, 97 were 7-12 years old and 88children were 1-6 years old.

Janu

ary

Febr

uary

Mar

ch

Apr

il

May

June July

Aug

ust

Se

pte

mbe

r

Oct

obe

r

Nov

em

ber

De

cem

ber

8 6 91

134 6 11 9 4 6 11

7 77

7

10

1013 5 7

46

145 13 10

7

24

77 14

7

5

15

617 1 2

1

6

1

45

4

3

26

(1 - 6) (7 - 12) (13 - 18) Not Defined

Age Group of Death from Road Accident



19

Most of the accidents occurred because of recklessdriving at highways; unauthorized vehicles run inhighways, defective vehicles, bad condition of highways,vulnerable road-side activities, lack of road safetyawareness among passengers and passersby, violation oftraffic rules and Poor traffic enforcement.

Suicide

213 children committed suicide in 2017. Every week, atleast 4 children took their lives. Among these 213 victimsof 2017, 68% children were between the ages of 13-18.74% of these victims are girls with the number of 157. Thepercentage of child suicide has increased by 43% since2016. In 2016, a total 149 child suicide cases wererecorded. Here it is mentionable that, in 2016 thisincident reduced 35% than the year 2015.

Majority of the children (Count: 51 children) who tooktheir life were from Dhaka which is 24% of total number ofsuicide. 8 children committed suicide in Narayanganj,Gazipur, Jessore and Barisal districts.

7744%% ((CCoouunntt::115577))

Distribu�on of Suicide by Gender

Boy

Girl

2266%% ((CCoouunntt

:: 5566))

The teenage group has committed suicide for somecommon reasons like, not getting GPA 5 in public examsor failing in those exams, distressed with family crisis, eveteasing, break up in love affairs, sexual harassment andvictim of pornography etc. But the younger children agesbetween 7-12 years committed suicide for some unusualreasons like not getting any desired item like: cycle, toysor new dresses, being angry with the parents etc. Butbeing abused still now key reasons for child suicide andmost of these victims are girls. This study also found anotable number of suicide incidents by child domesticworkers (CDWs). A total 13 cases of suicide by CDWs haverecorded in this period.


20

99% (Count: 19)

68% (Count:

144)

23% (Count:

50)

Distribu�on of Suicide by Age

(7-12)

(13-18)

Not Men�oned


21

Sexual Abuse and Exploitations

The situation of child sexual abuse and exploitations hasbecome deteriorated since past year. By 2017, these typesof incidents have increased by 30.32%. According tonewspaper reports, total 894 children were subjected todifferent types of sexual violence in 2017. In 2016 a total686 children were victim of such violence. There are 49children in average has become the victim of rape everymonth. Even there were 9 incidents were a boy child hasbecome the victim of rape. There is also a notable increaseof the cases of victim of pornography and wounded byperverts respectively 73% and 77% in 2017 than 2016.

SSL Type of Incidents 2017 2016 +/- (%)

1 Rape (total) 593 446 33%

2 Gang Rape 70 68 3%

3 Rape of disable child 44 42 5%

4 Murder After Rape 22 21 5%

5 Suicide After Rape 7 2 250%

6 Attempt to Rape 72 74 -3%

7 Eve Teasing 51 56 -9%

8 Sexual Harassment 90 60 50%

9 Victim of Pornography 26 15 73.33%

10 Wounded/Beaten by Perverts 62 35 77.14%

Incidents of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitations in 2017Incidents of Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitations in 2017

The reasons of rape have differences in the age groups.Among the 3-12 years age group, most of the childrenraped by their own relatives or acquaintances. Manychildren lured with candies, foods or toys by theperpetrators before being raped. Many teenagers wereraped before getting commitment for marriage from therapist. Immature love affairs were the reasons of a lot ofrape incidents last year. 50% of these children’s age wasnot mentioned by the newspapers but most of them werethe high school student.

Most of the rape victims were from the poor section of thesociety who is very vulnerable to get proper justice whichinspires the criminals to do such heinous crimes. Only 32cases of child rape got verdict last year. It makes sensethat why the numbers of rape incidents are rising. As,most of the incidents were covered up by the powerful


22

14% (Count: 83)

18% (Count: 107)

17% (Count: 103)

551% (Count:

300)

Distribution of Raped Children by AgeDistribution of Raped Children by Age

(1-6)

(7-12)

(13-18)

(Age not mentioned)

section of the society, theperpetrators are gettingcourage to do such heinouscrimes.

Recently, cyber bullying hasbecome another issue ofconcern for child sexualabuse. With the popularity ofsocial networking sites, alarge number of childrenespecially the girls are beingabused on the internet. 26children have become thevictim of child pornographylast year.

The above chart is showingthat Dhaka is on the top ofthe list for child rape. 15%child rape occurred only inDhaka city. Existence ofdiversified people, lack ofinsecurity and socialdegradation are causing thesexual abuse in this city.Among the top 10 districts,5 districts are in Dhakadivision which indicatesthat this part of the countryis suffering from childreninsecurity.


23

91

28

26

22

15

14

14

14

14

14

020

40

60

80

10

0

Top

10

Dis

tric

ts w

ith th

e H

ighe

st N

umbe

r of C

hild

Rap

es

Brahmanbaria

Noakhali

Though the number of kidnapping has decreased,number of child missing has gone higher. Incidents ofchild trafficking have decreased by 58 % but child missingstill a very concerning issue. A total of 188 children were


24

SSL Type of Incident 2017 2016 +/- (%)

1 Kidnapped 177 183 -3%

2 Kidnapped and Rescued 98 131 -25%

3 Kidnapped and Killed 26 17 53%

4 Attempted to Kidnap and Prevented 14 24 -42%

5 Missing 188 133 41%

6 Found Dead After Missing 75 47 60%

7 Trafficked and Rescued 25 60 -58%

8 Theft of New Born Baby 12 8 50%

9 Rescue of New Born Baby after theft 5 3 67%

10 Un known baby found 17 9 89%

11 Dead body of Unknown Baby found 24 28 -14%

Incidents of Child Kidnapping, Missing, Incidents of Child Kidnapping, Missing, Trafficking and Others in 2017Trafficking and Others in 2017

missing in 2017, among them 75 found dead aftermissing where only 20 has been reported as rescuedafter missing.

The incidents of missing children and children foundmurdered after being missing have increased respectively41% and 59% in 2017 than previous year. In most casesof missing and found murdered, children became easytarget of revenge and killed due to rivalry with familymembers, previous antagonism between families andchild witness in cases of extra marital affair or any othercriminal offence.

The incidents of rescue of unknown dead body ofnewborn child have also decreased in 2017 by 14%.According to media reports total 24 dead bodies ofunknown babies found in 2017 and most of them werenewborn baby. Dead bodies of unidentified new bornbabies were found in dustbins, drains and ditches and thereason assumed they were unwanted babies and thrownby their mothers or someone else. It’s a matter of releasethat this incident has become lower since 2015. As, in2015, rescue of newborn baby’s dead body rescued for52 times which was double than this year.

Rescued while/after trafficking has also decreased in2017. Although the total number of trafficked children isunknown, newspapers reported a total of 25 childrenhave rescued in 2017 which is nearly 60% less than theyear 2016. It is mentionable that most of the childrenwere rescued while trafficking from borders by the BGB.


25

In 2017, this incident of corporal punishment has fallensharply by 55%. 118 children were reported to be beatenat school in 2017. Newspaper reporting on violenceagainst child domestic workers (CDWs) in all forms stillremains unchanged. 14 domestic working children cameon the newspaper for beaten by their employers and 5child domestic workers killed in 2017. A total of 13suspicious deaths or suicide of CDW cases were recordedin 2017. In most cases of the suspicious death of CDWs,it is assumed that, CDWs were killed after torture andhanged, afterwards claimed suicide by the employer.


26

Incidents of Child Torture and Violence in 2017Incidents of Child Torture and Violence in 2017

SL Type of Incidents 2017 2016 +/- (%)

1 Injured by Physical Torture at School 118 263 -55%

2 Torture on Domestic Child Worker 14 14 0%

3 CDW Killed 5 8 -38%

4 CDW Raped 7 6 17%

5 Suspicious Death of CDW 13 13 0%

6 Acid Violence 9 4 125%

7 Killed in Political Violence 4 4 0%

8 Injured in Political Violence 34 7 386%

9 Beaten 66 106 -38%


27

Physical torture on children or beaten ruthlessly hasdecreased last year. According to BSAF statistics, a total66 children were beaten in 2017, which is 38% less thanthe year 2016. Newspapers reported that, at least 90children were subjected to physical torture in 2015 whichwas 17% higher than the year 2014. In most cases,underprivileged, street children and working childrenwere beaten or tortured inhumanely in theft charges.

In 2017, the tendency of child injuries in differentaccidents has increased by 10% than 2016. A total of 230children got injury in different incidents/accidents. BSAFanalysis found, injuries from road accidents haveincreased by 87 %, fire injuries have increased by 48%.

Incidents of Child Injuries in 2017Incidents of Child Injuries in 2017

SL Type of Incident 22017 22016 ++/- (%)

1 Injured in Road Accident 58 31 87%

2 Attempt to Kill 22 26 -15%

3 Injured by Fire 34 23 48%

4 Injured by Lightning strikes 4 2 100%

5 Attempt to Suicide 11 3 267%

6 Miscellaneous accidental injuries 101 124 -19%


28

Child Marriage and Rescue

186 children were rescued from the child marriage thisyear; on the other hand 66 children were reported as thevictim of child marriage. Rescue rate of child marriagehas increased by 33% and the rate of child marriagevictim has reduced to 37%. In 2016, 139 children wererescued from child marriage and 105 were forced tomarry in early age. Most of the child marriage victims arefrom the poorer section of the society. And they justbecome a dropout from the school as soon as they aregetting married. The child marriage situation isbecoming positive because of the promptness of thegovernment and the law enforcement agency. But it stillneeds a lot of improvement.

Recommendations for Improving Child Rights Situation in Bangladesh

In the reporting period BSAF has accomplished severalconsultations with relevant stakeholders on child rightssituations whereas the following way forewords wererealized.

To Government:

A separate directorate for children in Bangladesh thatis under process should be expedites as well asensures that adequate human, technical and financialresources are allocated to the directorate.

Government should also set up a separate ChildRights Commission for proper realizations of childrights in Bangladesh.

Formulating Rules for the full implication andimplementation of Children Act-2013 is crucial.

Bangladesh needs to give a prioritized focus inimproving the governance, implementation of socialsafety nets and law & order to ensure child safety &security and ending violence against children.

Inter-ministerial coordination is recommended forsuccessful implementation and proper utilization ofchild budget in Bangladesh. All the ministries (directlyor indirectly related to children) and city corporationsshould have separate budget for children.

Child marriage Restraint Act requires strictenforcement and monitoring by local police andadministration that the special provision for girlsmarriage before 18, is not used in general cases.

Child domestic work is a wide spread problem in.Conducting national survey on child labour indomestic work and formulation a Law for theimplication of Domestic Worker Protection andWelfare Policy- 2015 in necessary to improve thesituation of Child Labour in Domestic Work.

Hazardous job list of child labour declared in 2013should be reviewed by government and should includethe child domestic labour into the hazardous job list.


29

The number of government safe homes need to beincreased for the rehabilitation of the street childrenas well as providing vocational and sports training tothese street/abandoned children is essential so thatthey can become self-dependent and contribute to thecountry.

Strict actions and measures should be taken by thegovernment to control child pornography, childtrafficking and child prostitution.

Strict monitoring mechanism by government isneeded to stop corporal punishments at educationalinstitutions.

Speedy trial and execution of the verdict of the childmurder cases is recommended by child rightsspecialists for reducing child murder in Bangladesh.Child Rights experts also suggested deathpunishment of the rapists to decrease child sexualabuse in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh government should consider the issue ofwithdrawal of reservations to the UNCRC, particularlyArticle 21 on child adoption.

To Parents and Family:

In recent years, child murder and torture by familiesmarked a tremendous rise. Families should notneglect if any inharmonious attitudes like depression,


30


31

anxiety, grief and drug addiction is seen among familymembers, in that case taking mental treatment andconsultation under specialized doctor is a must.

Families have to be more awake about protectingchildren from sexual abuse and exploitation bypedophiles and perverts.

Awareness and consciousness of parents is verycrucial for protecting children from unnatural deathsby road accidents, drowning, lightning strikes andother accidental deaths like: falling from tree, fallingfrom roof and other accidental deaths while playing.

Families should give special care, attention andsupport to adolescents for reducing fatal decisions orsuicide.

To Media:

News media should consider reporting more details ofchild victim of abuse and exploitation includereporting of age, sex and follow-up of the incidentsfocusing to the violation of the UNCRC.


32

Conclusion

On the way to become a developed country, Bangladeshhas been improving itself in financial and industrial sectorsfor last couple of years. But its future is not yet secured asthe children of this country is still in a depriving condition.Sexual abuse, torture, fatalities are still on the rise whichneeds to be tackled to ensure healthy and prosperousgeneration to get a bright future for this country. Thegovernment of Bangladesh is yet to take sufficient steps toend the child murder; sexual abuse and threats againstminors and girls; child marriage; corporal punishment andprevent injury, road accidents and drowning.

Adaptation of an inclusive approach to eradicate violenceand discrimination against marginalized anddisadvantaged children and ensure the implementation ofall legal provisions in full compliance by the governmentcan mitigate the violence against children. Jointcooperation and involvement of the civil society, localcommunities, non-governmental and children’sorganizations in planning, implementing, monitoring andevaluating all policies, plans and programs concerning tochildren’s rights can facilitate the progress of childrendevelopment in this country.

Government will never be the sole responsible forindividual child safety; rather families have the mostimportant role for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of theirchildren. Families have to ensure adequate adultsupervision as well as work for creating an abuse freeenvironment within the society where the best interest ofthe children can be reflected.

inner state of child rights in bangladesh 2017...

Documents