and women’s constitutional rights provides a legal
basis for reform.
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1995.Sherifa ZuhurBangladeshBangladesh became independent as a result of the
Indo-Pakistan war in 1971. Before and after 1971
the Penal Code of 1860, the Criminal Procedure
Code 1989, and the Evidence Act of 1872 formed
the statutory basis of the criminal law of Bangla-
desh. The government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
enacted a constitution in 1972 that proclaimed sec-
ularism as one of the founding principles of state
policy. Yet in subsequent years of military rule from
1975 to 1990 constitutional amendments revived
religious-based parties and eliminated secularism
as a state principle. This was feared by women’s
groups because of the risk of exposing women to
discriminatory laws. The Suppression of Violence
against Women and Children Act 2000 covers the
offences of grievous hurt to women and children,
trafficking of women, kidnapping and abduction
of women and children, confinement of women
and children for ransom, rape, murder accompa-
nied by rape, or sexual assault, and committing
murder or hurt in order to obtain a dowry. In spite
of this law, these offences have not abated in any
significant measure. Women’s organizations in
Bangladesh demand that real issues related to the
management of crimes be addressed, namely indif-
ferent police, corruption, criminalization of politics,
poor participation of women in the policy-making
sphere, and so forth.Rape
The common crime of rape in Bangladesh is
controlled by section 376 of the Penal Code, the