Why are women tortured by men?

Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed of DOT : 
Margaret Atwood, a Canadian poet and novelist said – Men are afraid that women will laugh at them and women are afraid that men will kill them. Torture is an extreme behavior of a person. It is the act of deliberately inflicting severe physical or psychological suffering on someone by another as a punishment or in order to fulfill some desire of the torturer or force some action from the victim. Torture, by definition, is a knowing and intentional act; deeds which unknowingly or negligently inflict suffering or pain, without a specific intent to do so, are not typically considered torture. Article 1 of the 1984 United Nations Convention Against Torture provides that any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
Torture can be of two types, physical and mental. Now, one can torture another for various reasons, which may include internal conflict, greed, and aggression, to establish dominance, to get something done; to protect his or her interest etc. Interestingly, boyfriends or husbands also torture their girlfriends or wives though they love them. They do so in want of taking control of their loved ones. Sometimes they torture because of their own insecurity feelings buried deep.
Whatever be the reason, due to these factors a person sometimes becomes violent and hard hearted and torture another.
The victims of tortures are mostly women in a societal context and they feel distraught and distressed mostly in Bangladesh. Very few can overcome the trauma that they go through and manage to stand up again for their rights. Torture affects individuals, families and communities. It tears down the very fabric of society and represents a major obstacle to creating an enabling environment for human rights and rule of law to flourish.
The laws in Bangladesh have remedies for the women victims who are physically tortured. However, remedy for mental torture of women is not covered under any law.
A very violent form of torture is sexual torture.
Sex and violence are closely linked in our internal architecture. Sex has inherently violent undertones in the same way violence has sexual undertones. Sex-violence link has traditionally been discussed in the context of over stimulated male sexuality. In late Victorian times, for example, the male sex drive was considered so explosive and animalistic as to render men unable to control themselves when stimulated. This storyline is good for justifying male misbehavior and has also been used far and wide to justify men’s effort to control where women go, what they say, and how they dress. However, it falls apart upon close examination. The society perceives that men sexually assault women because they can. By genetic lot, men are on average stronger than women and can overpower them physically. Anatomy is destiny, Freud said. And so it’s the destiny of women that if men wish to impose their will, physical force is one available tool. The same is not true in reverse. This biological difference is not fair—but there is no fairness in nature; there is only nature in nature. And the difference is not likely to disappear any time soon.
(Source: Why Do Men Sexually Assault Women?, Noam Shpancer Ph.D.Insight Therapy).
According to Human Rights Watch, the prohibition against torture is a bedrock principle of international law. Torture, as well as cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, is banned at all times, in all places, including in times of war. No national emergency, however dire, ever justifies its use. No one may ever be returned to a place where they would face torture. Many countries and armed groups nonetheless have engaged in torture.
The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh provides safeguards against torture, ill treatment and arbitrary arrest. Article 11 provides that democracy, human rights, freedoms and respect for human dignity shall be fundamental principles of state policy. Article 27 establishes the right to equality before the law. Article 31 provides for protection of law, and prohibits actions not taken “in accordance with law.” Article 32 protects the right to life and personal liberty, and Article 33 provides safeguards from arbitrary arrest and detention. Article 35 provides explicitly that, “No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment.”
In 2003, the High Court gave a judgment in BLAST v Bangladesh that in view of Article 35 of the Constitution, “any information which is obtained or extorted by taking an accused on remand and by applying torture, the same information cannot be considered as evidence and cannot be used against him.” In the same judgment the Court further stated that the very system of taking an accused into remand and extorting information by application of force is, “totally against the spirit and explicit provisions of the Constitution.” The judgment also made key recommendations to amend the Criminal Procedure Code so as to make it more consistent with the Constitution.
However, the Constitution and these laws, directives talk about torture done in state level only.
Sexual crimes are addressed in the Penal Code of 1860. Section 375 of the Penal Code defines ‘rape’ as sexual intercourse taking place without the will or consent of, or by obtaining consent with false promises, with any women under the age of 14. Marital rape is not criminalised providing the wife is aged over 13 years. Bangladesh is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 1979 . As well as some Constitutional provisions and the Penal Code, domestic laws and provisions upholding the rights of women in Bangladesh, both generally and regarding violence against women specifically, include: the Human Trafficking Deterrence and Suppression Act 2012; the Hindu Marriage Registration Act 2012; the National Women’s Development Policy 2011; the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010; the Citizenship Amendment Act 2009; the Acid Crime Prevention and Acid Crime Control Acts 2002; the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act 2000; the Suppression of Violence against Women and Children Act 2000; and the Dowry Prohibition Act 19804 . The draft Dowry Prohibition Act 2017 was approved by the Cabinet in January 2017 and included punishment provisions for inciting suicide.
The society as a whole needs a reform to eliminate torture from it. Tortures have been inevitable part of every woman’s life. Still we hope that women empowerment and a rightly educated nation will be able to protect this society from the disease of torturing women.