Umama Fatema, a student of Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall, Dhaka University, and spokesperson for the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star.
International Women’s Day highlights progress, but safety remains a crisis in Bangladesh. Weak law enforcement, victim-blaming, and moral policing enable violence. Real change demands stronger laws, faster justice, safer spaces, and an end to impunity for harassers.
In 2025 Dhaka, heroism is redefined—harassing women earns public praise while real courage is silenced. Morality policing thrives, overshadowing justice. Fear replaces freedom, leaving true heroes unheard as society rewards those enforcing oppression instead of challenging it.
I am only asking—have we stopped standing by women?
Gender discrimination in rural areas across Bangladesh continues to be a formidable barrier to both social and economic development.
50 percent of women avoid online activity or hide their identities on social media due to safety concerns.
Paritosh touched the girls inappropriately and even tried to touch their private areas
Isn't there any good news? Of course, there is. But good news doesn't make headlines.
The universities also didn't organise any awareness activities regarding where and how to file complaints.
Experiences on public transport highlight the casual dismissal of women’s rights to equal access and treatment in public spaces.
Reports of GBV, harassment in factories can no longer be ignored
In May 2022, a young woman, who lives in Dhaka city, was verbally and physically assaulted at a train station in Narsingdi while waiting for a Dhaka-bound train.
In the absence of a policy to act as a deterrent, ragging goes on unchecked at some public universities, as the authorities concerned seem indifferent to the need for curbing the menace.
In 2009, the High Court issued a directive that requires active anti-sexual harassment cells in all educational institutions and workplaces. The landless organisations used RTI to find out how many schools in their locality had complied with the HC directive.
According to our study, 17 percent of women experienced physical abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic, 30 percent of them reported mental torture while 34 percent reported no harassment or abuse
Societal expectations and cultural norms impact young people's SRHR, including their choices about their bodies, relationships, and futures
Workplace sexual harassment is common in Bangladesh. It inhibits women from entering the labour market and is also a major reason why they drop out of work.
The need for corroborative or medical evidence to prove rape (and therefore these two rules) violates the global standards set by the UN and the WHO.
The link between the structural and personal is continually at risk of getting obscured in favour of an individualist reading of interpersonal violence.
