Research Planning: Sexual Violence Against Indigenous Women and Children in CHT and Their Access to Justice

1. Research Planning: Sexual Violence Against Indigenous Women and Children in CHT and Their Access to Justice Trimita Chakma & Bipasha Chakma

2. A brief context • CHT – home of 11 different indigenous communities • Population 1.6 mil (1% of overall population). Estimated indigenous population is 700,000-800,000 • In the 60’s Kaptai hydro-electric project submerged 40% of the cultivable land and displaced 100,000 indigenous peoples • In the 70’s, insurgency for regional autonomy • Transmigration program carried out by GoB to settle 400,000 Bengali setters backed up by military. 13 recorded genocides in this period. • In 1997 CHT accord signed to end insurgency • One third of the army is still deployed in CHT (one soldier per 40 civilians)

3. Hypothesis • One of the biggest issues in the CHT is the increasing violence against women and the absolute impunity perpetrators enjoy due to lack of access to justice. • According to the Kapaeeng Foundation’s statistics, from January 2007 to October 2012, there were at least 105 reported incidents of violence against indigenous women in the CHT of which at least 80% were cases of sexual violence. • For none of these reported cases perpetrators were prosecuted through the formal justice system till date.

4. VAW in CHT at a glance Source: Kapaeeng Foundation

5. Access to formal justice • Cases filed with the police stations in three Hill Districts of CHT from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011 under NSND 2000. These also include cases filed by non-indigenous women.

6. Formal Court in CHT

7. Customary court

8. Purpose • To study the various sexual violence experienced by the indigenous women and girls in CHT • To understand the challenges indigenous women face in accessing both formal state justice and indigenous customary systems, with a focus on normative frameworks, legal awareness, access to appropriate justice forums and the achievement of satisfactory remedies. • To highlight promising examples of how different actors within civil society and government are taking steps to improve indigenous women’s access to justice in CHT.

9. Objective • To identify the various gaps between the victims of violence and the existing justice systems, draw out the key lessons and challenges from these approaches and make recommendations to various stakeholders on bridging this gap through policy and institutional reform measures. • In addition, to assess the capacity of grassroots women’s organizations in the context of various elements of access to justice including legal framework, legal knowledge, legal advice and representation, access to justice institutions and assist Kapaeeng Foundation in developing a capacity development plan for Bangladesh Indigenous Women’s Network (BIWN).

10. Methodology • A review of various secondary data sources, including books, journal articles, reports, theses, newspaper articles etc. relating to violence against indigenous women and indigenous women’s access to justice in Bangladesh. • Analysis of available statistics relating to violence against indigenous women and their access to justice in order to establish a quantitative framework of analysis. • Review policies and programmes on violence against women in Bangaledesh and its effectiveness on indigenous women. • Interviews with relevant stakeholders including various indigenous organizations, women’s organizations/networks, local administrations, traditional leaders, law enforcement officers, researchers and informants working within policymaking bodies concerned with violence against women and their access to justice • An inception workshop with relevant stakeholders/research communities to have a consensus on the objectives of the research and the research process as a whole.

11. methodology • Primary data will be collected direct from community interviews through field field visits in consultation with stakeholders/victims to conduct interviews and focus group discussions. • Women to be interviewed will be contacted firstly through contacts with local NGOs and associations, and then through a snowball sampling method. Interviews will explore indigenous women’s personal experiences, and will allow them to recount any instances of violence of which they have been a victim, and to identify the source of this violence. The interviews will also explore indigenous women’s experience of interactions both with official institutions and with NGOs and local associations to identify which structures might have protected these women. All interviews will be confidential and anonymous, and will comply with the ethical framework of feminist participatory action research (FPAR). Interviews will be recorded and transcribed for analysis. • Self–assessment questionnaire for women organizations/networks to understand their organizational capacity to legally handle violence related cases. • Telephonic interviews with stakeholders if not available in person.

12. Research questions • How many cases are there of sexual violence against indigenous women in CHT? How many have approached the formal justice system? • What are the root causes of indigenous women’s lack of access to justice in the context of social, political, economic and cultural frameworks? • What are the various legal interventions in access to justice for indigenous women? What are the gaps between institutions associated with providing legal aid/services and the victims of sexual violence? • Do the grassroots women’s organizations have the capacity to provide services related access to justice to the indigenous women victims of violence (in the context of a plural legal system)? • What are the existing mainstream policy/institutional reform measures that have been put in place in order to increase access to justice for indigenous women victims of sexual violence? Are these measures inclusive of indigenous women of CHT?

13. Power Mapping Exercise

14. Power Mapping

15. The Stakeholders • Major Stakeholder: • Prime Minister of Bangladesh • Ministries: Law, Health, Social Welfare, Women and Children’s Affair • National HR Commission • Supportive Stakeholders: • National women’s rights activists and organizations • Local organizations • International organizations • Local administration

16. The Stakeholders • Neutral Stakeholders: • The police • Doctors/medical officers • Court – judges, staffs • Lawyers • Journalists • Youth • HR groups • Researchers (national and international) • progressive civil society • Cultural groups

17. The opponents • Opponents: • Fundamentalist groups • Patriarchal mentalities, • Non-indigenous settlers and migrants • Bangladesh Army

18. Critical Pathway

19. Changes we want to see • Capacity building • Organizational technical skills development in FPAR and advocacy in local, national, regional and international level • Indigenous women’s organization's skills development in handing legal cases with different institutions involved • Victims of violence and their families gain the courage to approach the legal system through counseling by the women’s organizations • Knowledge building in feminism and women’s rights in the organizational network • Knowledge • Systematic documentation of the VAW cases and legal processes • A quality research paper for advocacy • Advocacy • Inclusion of indigenous women’s issues in relevant national policies. E.g. National Women’s Policy • Implementation of Women and Children Repression Act , 2000 in CHT • Increased legal aid support from mainstream organizations • Awareness raising in the formal and informal institutions (e.g. Police, lawyers, doctors, court staff, national and local administrations etc.) • Movement building • Mobilization of indigenous women, men and youth for getting active in combating violence against indigenous women • Indigenous women’s movement is integrated into national women’s movement

20. Thank you for listening. Any questions?