determined by the focus of legal aid organizations themselves and the fact that they came into existence mainly to provide women with recourse against family disputes – is also unclear.

_There is a high perception of insecurity in public places_ : When women were asked if they had heard of a rape in the last year over 11 percent said yes compared to the fact that only 4 percent of men said yes (WBGNS, 2006). Only 49 percent of older women and 38 percent of younger women feel safe going out at any time within their settlement (village or urban neighborhood). And strangely while a smaller proportion of men report having heard of rape, yet a larger proportion of them compared to women believe the external environment to be more unsafe for women. Men also do not regard actual harassment or spousal violence to be as high as women do. However, we have to address the issue of women‘s feelings of insecurity with some caution. It is for instance likely that this sense of insecurity is instilled in them by their families or by the community narrative to ensure that women do not venture outside of acceptable public spaces – a narrative tied up as much by actual happenings in some historical past as well as by a feeling of protection for (or control of) women<sup>7</sup> . As is true of other countries, in Bangladesh too, women living in urban areas report feeling more unsafe, as do women in certain divisions. This result holds even after controlling for other background characteristics (World Bank, 2008).

<!-- Start of picture text --> Figure 2: Perception of safety of women Perception of safety of women<br>100 Source: World Bank Gender Norms Survey 2006Source: World Bank Gender Norms Survey 2006<br>90 Older Women (45-60)<br>80 Younger Women (15-25)<br>70 Men (25-50)<br>60<br>50<br>40<br>30<br>20<br>10<br>0<br>Women and girls are never Woman (or wife) feels safe<br>harassed in the community in the settlement at any<br>time<br>%<br><!-- End of picture text --> Anecdotal evidence and evidence from small samples suggests that violence against women outside the home could also be related to inter-family disputes regarding property. The issue of acid attacks against women for instance, has featured prominently in the media. In 2004, 228 cases of acid burns were reported in the media and 88 cases were filed. Of these 88 filed cases, 25 girls and women were burnt because of family disputes, and 36 girls and women were burnt because of land disputes. Twenty one cases were the result of the woman‘s refusal to accept a man‘s proposal of love/marriage or sexual relationship<sup>8</sup> . Thus, property disputes and violence against women are often related.

_The low level of conflict between households may come as a surprise to many_ – including advocates of strengthening the justice system in Bangladesh. However, this is not peculiar to Bangladesh. A recent nationally representative survey in India asked a similar question and also found a very high perception of harmony. The same survey also asked if a theft, break-in a physical attack or threat of attack had occurred in the last year. Less than 3 percent of the households had experienced any of these events in the last year.<sup>9</sup>

> 7 On issues of measurement of intra-family violence and perception of security, see World Bank, 2008

> 8 D‘Costa, 2004

> 9 Sonalde Desai (personal communication, 2008) based on NCAER-University of Maryland Human Development Survey 2005.  Note that in the India survey the questions were regarding actual experience of respondent while in

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