Count me IN! : Research Report on Violence Against Disabled, Lesbian, and Sex-working Women in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal

S. Rashid, D. Dutta

This report was launched at the 12th AWID International Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, 2012. Despite many legal achievements of the women's movements in these three South Asian countries, violence has systemically been used by State and non-State actors to exclude marginalised women from freely, fully, and fearlessly participating as rights-bearing citizens in the public and private spheres.This study included both qualitative and quantitative researches in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. Over 1600 disabled women, lesbian women, and female sex workers participated in the quantitative surveys and 157 participated in the qualitative study. Women who had a known history of experiencing of violence were recruited on purpose for the qualitative studies. The findings from the research were supplemented with interviews with 34 service providers, including counsellors, police officials, health workers, and care-givers. In addition, policy analysis and a detailed review of the existing literature were also conducted. Based on these, policy recommendations specific to the situation and relevant to the context in the three countries were formulated.