From misogynistic comments under a woman's post to the quiet suffering of a daughter-in-law behind closed doors, gender-based violence (GBV) permeates all spheres of life, visible and hidden. It is normalised, often overlooked, and tragically unchallenged. Veena Das's concept of "everyday violence" captures this reality: violence is not always loud or overt. It whispers through routines, internalised as inevitable, like the static of a radio or the hum of a ceiling fan.

In South Asia, street harassment—catcalls, lewd remarks, groping—has become as familiar as navigating traffic or bad weather. It's part of the pre-arrival briefing, a tacit agreement society makes with itself to manage harm rather than eradicate it. This societal acceptance of public harassment reflects a glaring failure that perpetuates violence.

While "violence" often conjures images of physical harm, "abuse" encompasses a broader spectrum, including emotional, verbal, and psychological dimensions. The leering gaze on a crowded bus, the casual sexist remark in the office, or coercion disguised as consent within relationships are not exceptions but daily realities. These acts, dangerously invisible in their normalisation, must be acknowledged as abuse to be addressed effectively. It is also important to confront systemic issues, including data vacuum and legal inertia.

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Dismantling rural gender-based violence requires more than awareness

There is a dearth of reliable and nuanced data on gender-based violence (GBV) despite decades of advocacy. The 2015 Violence Against Women (VAW) Survey found that over 70 percent of ever-married women in Bangladesh have experienced partner violence. However, the survey disproportionately focused on physical violence within marriage, sidelining the experiences of single women, gender-diverse individuals, and marginalised groups. Additionally, non-partner violence, cyber abuse, and workplace harassment remain underreported. Emotional, psychological, and economic abuse—forms of violence often rendered invisible—are rarely captured. Outdated data, underreporting shaped by stigma and safety concerns, and inadequate disaggregation further distort the picture. Without comprehensive data, policies will continue to fall short. For example, understanding harmful practices like child marriage requires data that goes beyond legal definitions to explore the lived experiences of child brides.

Even when laws exist, enforcement remains weak. PPRC-led grassroots consultations reveal that legal restrictions such as Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017, for instance, are frequently circumvented through pseudo-registration practices, falsified age declarations and clandestine notary marriages. These loopholes leave girls vulnerable to abandonment, school exclusion, and a lack of legal recourse. Combined with setbacks like prolonged school closures, systemic failures in policy and enforcement exacerbate vulnerabilities and create room for violence.

Disrupting the cycle of GBV requires moving beyond performative outrage to bring about systemic change grounded in evidence-based strategies, beginning with enhanced data collection. Surveys must capture the full spectrum of violence and capture the nuance of what constitutes "abuse" in cyberspaces, public spaces, etc. To ensure targeted interventions, data must be disaggregated by socio-economic, geographic, and demographic factors, addressing the realities of marginalised groups such as unmarried women, gender-diverse individuals, persons with disabilities, and ethnic and religious groups. Quantitative data can be complemented with qualitative research, such as case studies and focus group discussions, to shed light on the lived experiences of survivors, while randomised controlled trials can evaluate interventions. For example, tracking redressal mechanisms sought by survivors or exploring the motives behind abuse can provide critical insights into patterns and triggers of violence. Together, these methods provide a richer understanding of GBV's systemic underpinnings. While the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics has initiated its work on the VAW Survey 2024, we are yet to find out what changes have been made.

Alongside good data collection, strengthening legal frameworks is equally important. Cyber abuse, for example, must be criminalised with the same rigour as physical violence, and digital literacy should become a key prevention strategy. Robust support systems—including counselling, shelter services, and legal assistance—are necessary to comprehensively address the continuum of harm survivors face.

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Widening the domain of domestic abuse

Accountability and enforcement are critical to ensuring progress. Policy monitoring mechanisms must track the implementation of laws and hold perpetrators and institutions accountable. Collaboration among stakeholders—development organisations, NGOs, and government agencies—can validate and utilise administrative data from helplines, justice audits, and reports to highlight gaps in policy and practice.

Finally, capacity building is a cornerstone of sustainable change. Training enumerators to collect data ethically and sensitively is crucial for accurate reporting. Educating communities and fostering engagement through grassroots initiatives can challenge the normalisation of harm, reshaping cultural narratives around GBV. By combining these efforts, we can dismantle the systemic structures that enable violence and work towards a society where GBV is neither normalised nor invisible.

Namira Shameem is research associate at Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC).

Views expressed in this article are the author's own. 

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