PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The paper explores the impact of Community Empowerment Program (CEP) of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), one of largest and diversified NGOs in Bangladesh, more popularly known by its acronyms BRAC, in challenging violence against women. The reference point for analysis in the paper is the women CEP members' own perception about their life transformation in general and their stand towards violence in particular. Unlike other research studies conducted in this area that focuses on women's financial freedom, this paper focuses on violence against women, one of the most vital indicator of women's socio- political empowerment. The paper is based on both primary and secondary data. Qualitative primary data were collected from women beneficiaries of CEP program in Bangladesh. This paper argues that CEP can be a useful empowerment tool that can reduce domestic violence against women but only when combined with women and their husband's education and training It concludes that education and training are more important that should be the focus of all CEP programs.