Institutional Determinants of Public Confidence in Domestic Violence Laws: Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

Domestic violence is a huge social and legal issue in most developing countries including Bangladesh. Although laws have been developed to combat domestic violence, they are usually ineffective because people lack awareness, accessibility of institutions and the way they are implemented. This paper will discuss the mechanisms that can either promote or hinder the perceptions held by the populace on the effectiveness of the domestic violence laws in Bangladesh and how these affect the level of trust that the populace have in the law institutions. Speaking from the perspectives of Institutional Theory and the Theory of Legal Consciousness, the study examines how legal knowledge, the availability of legal remedies, and perceived enforcement influence citizens’ perceptions of the domestic violence law. It used a quantitative survey and obtained data of 2000 respondents. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data and test the interconnections among the study variables. The construct reliability and validity of the measures had been established using Cronbach alpha, composite reliability, average variance extracted and discriminant validity tests. These findings show that the perceived effectiveness of domestic violence laws are highly related to legal awareness, legal remedies availability, and enforcement. The adoption of the strongest of these predictors is enforcement. Moreover, the perceptions of the law in the area of domestic violence serve as one of the strongest factors in increasing the confidence people have on the world of law. Through the model, it is estimated that the large difference in the perceived effectiveness and trust in government occurs as a result of institutional performance and legal awareness. The results can be added to the research on the effectiveness of law and institutional legitimacy by showing that the effect of domestic violence laws should be considered not only based on legal texts but also on the perceptions of citizens concerning institutional aptitude and availability. The research also offers policy recommendations to enhance service accessibility to the law and enforcement system in order to maximize the success of domestic violence legislation.