Evaluating the Social, Political and Economic Reasons Behind Gender-Based Violence in South Asia: A Case Study of Bangladesh

Since time immemorial, the South Asian Region has had a striving culture of violence towards women. It frequently caused more deaths than actual war and other kinds of violent conflicts, which are generally granted higher attention by governments and humanitarian organizations. For instance, from 2011 to 2015, India documented more than 40,000 dowry-related homicides, which is far more than ten times the total number of casualties in the Kashmir conflict, the Naxalite struggle, and the Northeast India sectarian violence during that time period, including both genders. Recent statistics from The Asia Foundation-supported violence monitoring programs in Nepal and Bangladesh show that gender-based violence is the primary or second leading cause of premeditated killings in both nations, far ahead of sociopolitical or ethnic and religious violence. Therefore, this paper tries to reflect and analyze the core reasons behind the unfettered occurrence of this violence against a particular gender in the South Asian reason. Bangladesh will be the primary focus of this study due to its recent amendments in the laws against VAW, improvement of the socio-political status of women, participation of women in the workforce with the steady GDP growth rate, nevertheless, including the increase in the number of crimes committed against women.