Sex crimes against women rampant
News reports of rape have, unfortunately, become an everyday occurrence in our country. As the high profile Banani rape case continues to unfold, the sickening news of the rape of girls as old as five and fourteen hogged the headlines in this daily yesterday.
A fourteen-year-old girl was walking to a local store, in Lama upazila of Bandarban, on Monday evening when a group of men allegedly forcibly took her to a remote area and gang-raped her. A day later, a five-year-old girl in Jessore Sadar upazila was reportedly raped by a neighbour in his house. The child's family members found her in the culprit's house after frantically searching for her and said that the girl was bleeding.
A glance at the recent statistics—which are actually an underevaluation of the real numbers—of sexual harassment and violence in Bangladesh paints a horrifying picture. In Gaibandha district alone, from January to May 23 this year sixty-six women and children were victims of rape and sexual harassment. This includes the attempted rape of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in Gopalpur village of the district.
This is the cruel reality of women and children in this country. For the less privileged, the situation is infinitely worse. Sexual violence against women is one of the most perverted manifestations of misogyny. We cannot cure people's mindsets overnight but what we can do is try to ensure quick, proper dispensation of justice in each and every case of sex crime.
It is high time for the government to prioritise the issue of violence against women. Law enforcement agencies need to be on high alert so that they can respond swiftly and efficiently in such cases. Why must we "demand" justice every time a girl child or woman is raped or sexually assaulted? We simply cannot sit back and watch perpetrators of sexual violence go scot-free any longer. Enough is enough.
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