BNWLA and its specific programs & achievements for resisting

Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) has been fighting to ensure equal opportunities and equal rights for every woman and child in the country for last 29 years. BNWLA promotes the rights and status of women lawyers alongside fighting for access to justice for all women & children particularly for the most disadvantaged women and children in Bangladesh. The programs and service provisions of BNWLA are particularly targeted at the poorest and most disadvantaged areas of the country where comprehensive legal service delivery program along with others preventive and protective supports in establishing human rights and resisting violence against woman and child is most needed.

BNWLA, being a Human Rights organization with a special focus on establishment of women & children Rights, has always appeared as a pressure group to the government & international bodies & tried to unfold the real life situation of women & children to the public. It has been evident that without proper policy formulation and action, it is not possible to ensure any positive changes in overall developments of women and children. Following that, BNWLA is trying to bring changes in the society and also to ensure access to justice from grassroots to national level through partnership, networking and policy level advocacy.

The organization followed three thematic approaches (prevention, protection & rehabilitation and reintegration) and specific strategies [1) advocacy for introduction and reform of law/policies (including research, dialogues, seminars/workshops, PIL, media, Networking, Partnership); 2) right-based prevention, protection & integration supports (including comprehensive women and child friendly packages like legal, shelter, development, psychosocial counseling & others); 3) enhancing member women lawyers’ professional capacity to act as “ Change Agents”] to resist countrywide violence against women and children & fulfill its vision “ to establish rule of law with gender equality”.

Specific Programs/activities:

Following thematic approaches, BNWLA had initiated several programs & activities under following heads to address violence against women and children.

Prevention    

• Awareness raising/Sensitization events (both at grassroots and national level)
•  Capacity building of relevant stakeholders (i.e. lawyers, judiciary people, members of law enforcing agencies, community members, local government representatives, partner organizations & others)
•  Referral services (both grass roots & national level)
• Networking (both national, regional and international)& formal partnership with government, non government bodies & community groups
• Policy level advocacy for bringing changes in practices and policies.
•  Research and publications on different VAW issues (i.e. wife abuse, rape, domestic violence & others)
•  Technical assistances to government in drafting/amending laws/policies & structuring GO services.
  
•  Media advocacy and
•  Community based preventive interventions (i.e. initiation of community based advisory centers for local level prevention and immediate supports).

Protection

• Country wide widespread legal service delivery (i.e. mediation/Shalishes, court case conduction etc) through 6 divisional offices, 32 out-reach clinics & 42 grass roots level partner organizations
• Rescue/release from different confinements
•  Repatriation from different countries
•  Fact finding or in depth investigation services
• Referral services (both grass roots & national level)
• Victim and witness protection through community based and institutional service delivery.

Rehabilitation and Reintegration

Major Achievements:

During 29 years of journey, BNWLA had achieved several remarkable successes in human rights field. And also attained national, regional and international recognition & acceptance from different bodies and States. All achievements related to VAW cannot be furnished in short. Due to that, considering the request, BNWLA is highlighting few of its success stories in following:

1.      BNWLA as a professional group of lawyers has been an impressed concerned stakeholder with its capacity to provide technical assistance to draft laws/policies. One significant example that could be sited here is the Birth & Death Registration Act that has been passed by the Parliament in 2004 where BNWLA relentlessly and intensively assisted the concerned line Ministries to draft the law. Apart from that, BNWLA had also assisted in drafting Acid Control Act & Acid Crime Prevention Act. BNWLA assisted in establishing voting rights of women through PIL/Class Action Suites. Recently BNWLA had drafted Victim & Witness Protection Act with assistance different level stakeholders and lobbying for enactment of these proposed laws.

2.      BNWLA had established good coordination and strong working relationship with certain line Ministries (i.e. Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs) of government of Bangladesh. BNWLA had recently initiated a formal partnership with the Ministry of Social Welfare (MOSW) and providing technical assistance and direct supports to three of GO shelters and playing key role in victimized women and girls life status improvement. BNWLA had a plan to extend its supports to all of government operated shelters gradually.

3.      For resisting domestic violence and to ensure protection of victimized women & children, Bangladesh Law Commission under Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (MOLJPA) had invited BNWLA, to draft a Domestic Violence Act on be half of Bangladesh government. BNWLA had already drafted this Act and completed an action research on this before initiation of drafting. Apart from that, the Law Ministry had involved BNWLA as member of Government Legal Aid Committee for ensuring proper support to disadvantage women in getting government free legal aid at root level. As a member of this committee, the organization is contributing for the best uses of government legal aid fund at district level for the protection of disadvantage women and children.

4.      As a member of Acid Control & Prevention Committee and as an implementing partner of OCC project, BNWLA is playing crucial role under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA). Along with, the organization is directly assisting the Ministry (MOWCA) in drafting country report on CRC & CEDAW. As an active member of National Anti-Trafficking Committee under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA), the organization is also helping Bangladesh government to rescue, repatriate, prosecute and reintegrate trafficked women and children & also in formulating country paper on trafficking in women and children and National Action Plan on Trafficking in persons.

5.      As a steering committee member of Police Reform Project under MOHA & UNDP, BNWLA is also playing important role in setting model police stations, introducing women and child friendly policing and in establishment of model victim support center. Along with these Ministries, BNWLA is also working with Ministry of Health, Ministry of Youth and Employment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Expatriate Welfare on different women and child rights related issues (i.e. repatriation, migration, alternative livelihood options, rights of HIV/AIDS infected people).

6.      The organization had created models of “Community based Social Prevention and Protection Mechanism” through establishment of local level “ Community Counseling Centers, Violence Prevention Village Committees (VPVC) & Social Protection Centers” covering 25 districts of Bangladesh to resist violence against women and children

7.      At regional and international level, the organization is directly involved in drafting of alternative reports re: UNCRC, Optional protocol of sale of children, child prostitution & pornography & CEDAW & also playing key role in execution of SAARC Convention on Trafficking and formulation of Bi-lateral Agreement on Trafficking between Bangladesh and India.