How medical evidence is used to discredit rape complainants
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.
A company’s negligence killed 44 people. What price will it pay?
Another brutal reminder that worker safety is last on our list of priorities for our progressive and developing country.
National Legal Aid Day: Three ways to improve our national legal aid system
Today marks the National Legal Aid Day, which was introduced by the government in January 2013, in an effort to increase public awareness of national legal aid services.
Where is our independent prosecution service?
Although we frequently hear calls for justice whenever a grievous crime takes place, the role of public prosecutors, i.e. the very individuals who conduct criminal cases in court on behalf of the state, is seldom—if ever—discussed.
Where can domestic violence survivors actually go?
On this year’s International Women’s Day, which is being celebrated across Bangladesh and with much grandiosity in Dhaka, I want us all to think of Yasmin Ara, a young woman from Satkhira, who has been thrown out of her home by her mother-in-law a few months after losing her husband.
We need a state compensation fund for victims of violent crime
Whenever a violent crime like gang rape or custodial torture takes place, we are quick to demand justice for it.
How the Banani rape verdict exposes the rape culture in our courtrooms
On November 11, 2021, Mosammat Kamrunnahar, judge of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 7 in Dhaka, reportedly asked the police “to refrain from receiving a case if a rape victim comes to the police station after 72 hours of the incident” since “semen cannot be traced after 72 hours.”
Three months after the Hashem factory fire, has there been any ‘justice’?
Today, October 8, marks three months since the deadly Hashem Foods fire, which claimed the lives of at least 54 people. Out of those killed, at least 17 were children. Out of these 17 children, at least 11 were girls.
July 11, 2021
Why is the price of killing a worker only Tk 2 lakh?
Fifty two workers have so far been declared dead as a result of the horrific fire that engulfed the Hashem Foods factory in Narayanganj, where famous products such as Shezan juice and Nocilla spread were produced.
July 5, 2021
The long road to the repeal of Section 155(4): Will questions about a rape survivor’s ‘character’ finally be banned in court?
On June 30, 2021, the law minister announced in Parliament that the government will finally be introducing legislation to remove Section 155(4) of the Evidence Act 1872—which has long allowed defence lawyers to raise questions about a rape complainant’s character, and therefore moral police them in the name of cross examination in court.
May 5, 2021
‘I have no one else’: How an eight-year-old girl lost her entire family at once
In the early hours of Monday morning, when most of us were tucked comfortably in our beds, eight-year-old Meem lost her entire family after the speedboat she was on crashed and overturned in the middle of the Padma river, drowning and killing 26 passengers.
May 1, 2021
Why is a worker’s life only worth Tk 2 lakh in our labour law?
On Labour Day, I am reminded of 22-year-old Jewel Hossain, who in January this year, was conducting his evening shift at a polythene factory when the machine malfunctioned and the blade ripped through him and gouged one of his eyeballs out.
April 28, 2021
Six requirements under Bangladesh labour law that can help prevent the spread of Covid-19
As we face an upsurge of Covid-19 cases, and with the national lockdown being lifted, the need to prioritise effective preventive measures has never been greater.
April 24, 2021
Why are Bangladeshi workers still dying preventable deaths?
Today marks eight years since one of the deadliest industrial disasters in modern history killed at least 1,132 workers and injured more than 2,500 others in our own backyard.
March 16, 2021
Corporate negligence killed a mother and son. Do we even care?
On the afternoon of March 3, 2021, three-year-old Ruhit was playing in front of his residential building located inside the Provita Fish Feed hatchery, when he fell into a large septic tank that had been left uncovered.
March 9, 2021
Ten reforms we need to end impunity for rape
In keeping with this year’s theme for International Women’s Day, I, as a legal researcher, #ChooseToChallenge how ineffectively our lawmakers have dealt with rape, one of the defining manifestations of gender inequality.
November 8, 2020
What changes does the recent ordinance make to our law on violence against women?
On 13 October 2020, our central law dealing with violence against women, i.e. Nari o Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain 2000 (Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000) was amended for the second time since it was enacted, by an ordinance.
October 29, 2020
Marital rape killed a child in our country. Why is it still legal?
On October 25, 2020, a 14-year-old girl from the Kalia village in Basail upazila, Tangail, reportedly died due to excessive genital bleeding after being admitted at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
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