The law here is in support of the women. The number of times I have heard this statement from a wide variety of people is quite astonishing to me. Whether it be the lawyer I am working with (Adv. Shaheda) or the various human rights activists I have met with, everyone makes this claim. However, I have not yet figured out whether these people mean this to be a positive statement or a condescending one.
Life at the office has been quite interesting in the past two weeks. My general work here consists of recording the statements of all the people who come to the organization with complaints or cases. I then send a letter out the opposite party—in most cases, the human rights violator. Once that party is reached, both parties are called to the office for mediation. If the matter is not resolved or cannot be solved by mediation, the organization provides lawyers to fight the case in court for free.
On my second day at the office, Adv. Shaheda handed me a newspaper and asked me to read an article written about a girl who had been murdered by her husband and his family for dowry purposes within 27 days of being married. Adv. Shaheda asked me if I would be able to visit the police station where this case had been reported in order to gather information about the victim and the perpetrator. My goal would be to talk to the victim’s parents and offer them free legal aid from the organization so they could pursue a case against their daughter’s murderer/husband. I was a bit shocked that I had been given such a large task on just my second day at the office and that I was trusted to go alone, but I was also looking forward to the experience.
The following day, I started my journey where the initial police case was made: Sitakunda Police Station, located a little over an hour outside of the city. I introduced myself as a lawyer from BNWLA (I was told to do so by my supervisor) and explained my interest in the case. Surprisingly, it was quite easy to get personal information about the victim as well as her husband. This might not have happened so easily in the US.
I then called the victim’s parents and learned that the family’s only source of income is the ill, elderly fisherman father. When I arranged for them to come to the BNWLA office, explaining they could get justice for their daughter without having to worry about the cost, the mother totally broken down. I realized that for the first time, I was actually able to make a huge difference in someone’s life because of BNWLA. I also realized how important affordable legal aid is.
Although I initially was a bit hesitant to travel around and outside the city alone, I am actually grateful now that I was sent out by Adv. Shaheda so early on. I look forward to more such experiences where I can feel like I played a direct role in a case.