Intervening influence focuses on different factors that facilitate women’s policy representation. Women with executive positions, including the Prime Minister, exert two types of influence. Direct influence is already described in section 6.3.1. These women legislatures also employ intervening influence by setting a positive vibe to create a favourable condition for women related policy-making in the parliament. The other intervening factor is the contribution or influence of external actors, such as women rights organization in the context of Domestic Violence Act. The following section provides evidence on how such intervening factors facilitate the relationship between women’s numerical presence and their policy representation.
Interviews with experts, civil society actors, and women legislators highlighted that the political will of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the role of women’s rights organisation (or a coalition of such organisations) are undeniable to uphold the cause for an act in Bangladesh. The discussion here demonstrates the role of women’s rights organisations in mobilising the support base during the policy development stage. Civil society organisations, as external actors, were successful in attaining sufficient attentions of the Minister of Women and Children Affairs and several parliamentarians at the first place. An expert, in an interview, suggested that the CSOs managed to create a momentum and urgency for a new law to protect women from domestic violence (AC201639, 2016). They primarily started drafting the bill and mobilising the attention of the Law Commission to conduct further research. The contribution of civil society organisations was also referred by Dr. Chaudhury in an interview with the researcher. She confided, “The Domestic Violence Act was a combined effort” (LWS201502, 2015). She went further explaining the emergence of any laws in general by saying that
the government can lead enactment process of any kind of laws whenever there is a need for it, and a request can arrive from people’s side including civil society organizations. The CiDV was also eager to take the credit as they were the first ones who had contributed to the policy initiation stage and drafted an initial version of bill. The civil society coalition and activists were successfully able to carry the movement from 2002 to 2009 and made it to the government’s desk.
The overall political atmosphere and Prime Minister’s political will were instrumental in receiving an approval from the Cabinet members. Her moral support had also influenced the process outside of the Cabinet, i.e., in the house of the parliament. For example, Dr. Chaudhury discussed the positive impact of the women-friendly political attitudes of the Prime Minister that facilitated the enactment process. Being the chief of the Cabinet, the PM had a role in gaining support from the Cabinet and approval from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (MoLJPA). Women legislators interviewed in this study argued that without the support of the Prime Minister and her good political will, the Domestic Violence Act 2010 might have been dropped from the overall policy agenda. The role of the Prime Minister and her election commitment were described as supportive and beneficial to the empowerment of women. In an interview with an ex-Minister Dr. Dipu Moni, she reconfirmed the claim by saying that:
It was not that difficult to convince the Cabinet members, as Prime Minister wholeheartedly supported the initiatives. The Prime Minister wanted this law. Without her command, it was not possible. She wanted to get it through the Cabinet (LWE201504, 2015).
Legislators received a clear signal on PM’s optimism about the bill as it was placed to the parliament after the approval of the Cabinet members, Prime Minister’s Office, and even after it’s (the bill) legal vetting by the MoLJPA. It also delivered the message of urgency to pass the Bill without delay. Indeed, the entire process from introduction to enactment with a majority vote took only three months. The short duration also left little scope for holding any extensive debates or initiating parliamentary scrutiny. Although there were some criticisms about some specific provisions of the bill inside the parliament, no firm opposition was recorded against the enactment of the act. While talking with women activists who were part of the civil society organizations coalition, they stressed the political atmosphere for such type of legal steps (dedicated only for women) to make a successful one. According to one of them,
This kind of change requires a positive atmosphere. We have been trying to adopt such type of law in our country; our neighbouring states have already moved with such law. The elections
of 2008 gave us an opportunity to move forward. The elected governments have shown real sympathy towards women issues during the previous terms, and we were hoping to make this happen again this time (DWRO201529, 2015).
The discussions in this sub-section demonstrates how a set of intervening factors, such as the role of external actors other than women legislators and women friendly poltical atmosphere have facilitated the enactment process of the Domestic Violence Act. The discussion also reveals how these intervening factors played an important role in the enactment process. This argument does not mean to reduce the importance of women’s presence or their involvement in the process. Instead, it argues that the legislators’ capacity and ability are influenced by intervening aspects, for example, the strength of the Prime Minister and external actors’ interest in campaigning for women’s concern. In a way, it stresses external actors and political context as macro factors, both of which have been useful for the successful enactment of the Act.