| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Disputes within the family and cases of domestic violence in Bangladesh have traditionally been resolved either among kinsmen or in village panchayats where young women have had less opportunity to be heard. This article describes a third-sector initiative in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in cases of domestic violence in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Data from 20 case studies of female victims of domestic violence, interviews with six lawyers, and participant observation in 10 mediations in a counselling centre are used to examine how this kind of social innovation affects the bargaining position of battered women in a kin-based, patrilineal and patrilocal society. The battered women involved in these mediations were rural or urban, less educated, and economically disadvantaged. The findings illustrate the limitations of ADR in cases of domestic violence. ADR as practiced in Sylhet, Bangladesh provides poor women a chance to be publicly heard in mediations of their domestic crises. However, ADR often fails to deliver lasting, just, and socially progressive solutions. The adoption of ADR practices should not be considered as an alternative to the development of the formal judicial system, because it lacks the power to enforce agreements and supports the hegemonic status quo, leaving the battered woman and her natal family with very limited options.
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