ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on how the daily lives of women in their marital homes can be disrupted by domestic violence by their husbands and in-laws. This makes their homes places of violence and fear by destroying the ideal pattern of a home. It looks for the causes of domestic violence against women from the clients of the counseling center to detect loopholes that could lead to women’s subordination in their struggle to establish their rights. This chapter starts discussion by looking at the concept of home in the context of Bangladeshi society, and then it describes the case studies of some women who have broken the silence of their home and brought their private lives into the public domain and uncovered the real causes for domestic violence. It expands analysis into examining why seeking informal help from their kin for domestic violence commonly fails. Why do the women come to a formal legal organization to seek help and what do they expect from this organization?