Nilima Jahan

Twenty-five-year-old Rima Rani Paul is currently in her eight month of pregnancy. When she visited the doctor recently, she was recommended a balanced diet, rich in nutrient-dense foods, as the fetus was not growing as expected.

Mohammad Harun, a sales executive at a ceramic store, was pleasantly surprised to see a handwashing station at the entrance to his office this July.

“It makes me so angry when I see the man who raped my 13-year-old daughter with disabilities proudly roaming around the neighborhood, saying, ‘What’s so wrong with raping a retard? She’s a reject any way!’” lamented a frustrated Mujtoba Ali*, a construction worker in Bogura.

Even though rape laws were amended last year to allow for the death penalty, a total of 813 girl children were subjected to rape, of whom 110 were subjected to gang rape in the first eight months of this year, revealed a report.

On July 11, three under-five children drowned in two unions of Netrakona’s Kalmakanda upazila. The incident, however, was not highlighted in the media, as child drowning still remains one of the neglected and underreported issues in Bangladesh.

Getting tested and vaccinated for Covid-19 was no less than a trauma for Tanisha Yasmin Chaity, a young transwoman and a development worker based in Cox’s Bazar.

30-year-old Mugdha* a transgender woman of Rajshahi, still depends on traditional healers or dispensaries when she feels unwell, considering the disparities she faces at hospitals.

Fatema Begum of Kalyanpur slum, locally known as the “Kalyanpur Pora Bosti”, got married to Md Mohsin in March, this year.

When Shreyon Paul suffered a second-degree burn to his back, doctors at a local hospital were not sure if the nine-year-old would ever fully recover.

The government is yet to decide whether to vaccinate pregnant women despite a WHO recommendation to that end and an alarming rise in the number of pregnant Covid-19 patients.

A few weeks ago, the photo of 65-year-old Asiya Begum -- a house-help who was walking for two hours, wading through ankle-deep water, to reach her home at Hemayetpur from her employer’s house at the capital’s Lalmatia -- went viral on social media. 

Contrary to popular belief, the most dominant cause children’s deaths in Bangladesh is not malnutrition or diarrhoea.

Two years ago, Obaidul Huq quit his teaching job at a private school in Dhaka out of frustration and decided to go back to his village home in Kurigram’s Buribari union.

At 26, Bina Roy, a tea garden worker at Khejuri Tea Garden of Sreemangal upazila in Moulvibazar, is already a mother of four after getting married at 16.

Rights activists and legal experts welcomed Law Minister Anisul Huq’s announcement about removing from the Evidence Act a provision allowing “negative” remarks about the character of a rape victim in a rape case.

26 years ago, a young Md Riajuddin came to Dhaka, from Mymensingh, to make a decent living.

The attitude of some lawmakers towards women has become a matter of great concern, said women’s rights activists as well as organisations working for women’s rights and empowerment yesterday.

More than three years ago, the government had taken up a project with the aim of eliminating hazardous child labour from Bangladesh by 2020.

Thirty-year-old Dipali Nokrek made a career out of doing one thing -- making people look beautiful.

To ensure employment, standard living, and social and economic integration of members of the transgender community in Bangladesh, the government has proposed to enact special tax incentives in the proposed budget for those who will employ transgender workers.