sexual violence

No country for women and girls

What codes of safety and protection can ensure women’s right to, well, exist?

Investigate sexual violence against RMG workers

Reports of GBV, harassment in factories can no longer be ignored

Bangladesh’s persistent child abuse woes

Why have we done so little to ensure safety and dignity of our future generations?

How did Bangladeshi women fare in 2022?

Women's achievements were overshadowed by the gendered inequalities they continue to face

‘University campuses are still mainly male-dominated spaces’

Prof Gitiara Nasreen of Dhaka University speaks on campus sexual harassment and media’s role in normalising sexual violence

16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence / How women's secondary status encourages violence

The value of a female is largely determined by what she can offer to her family and society

Why Bilkis Bano’s rapists should be behind bars

Men who raped Bilkis Bano during 2002 Gujarat riots allowed to walk free on the same day that PM Modi promised to make the nation a better place for women.

Will buses ever be women-friendly?

Govt must take stern action to stop sexual harassment on public transport

Myanmar troops' sexual violence against Rohingyas 'genocidal intent'

Sexual violence committed by Myanmar troops against Rohingya women and girls in 2017 was an indication of the military's genocidal intent to destroy the mainly Muslim ethnic minority, United Nations investigators concluded in a report release.

April 19, 2019
April 19, 2019

Impunity, moral decline to blame

A culture of impunity, moral degradation and culprits’ getting political backing in many cases are the major reasons why incidents of rape and sexual violence continue unabated in the country, according to experts and rights activists.

April 16, 2019
April 16, 2019

If I reject your proposal, will you let me live?

Her death has sent out a clarion call. But we don't know how long it'll take for the call to make a veritable change. How long the call will keep blaring in the air. Our hearts remain suffused with questions.

March 5, 2019
March 5, 2019

“She asked for it”

Sexual violence against women is often justified by putting blame on women. If a woman gets sexually assaulted, the whole of society tends to point fingers at the woman.

February 7, 2019
February 7, 2019

Rape Victims: Children the most VULNERABLE

A staggering 29 of the 46 victims raped in January were below 18, showing that children remain vulnerable to sexual violence.

February 7, 2019
February 7, 2019

The gaps in our laws we need to address

Sabrina Zarin, Barrister-at-Law, (Hon'ble Society or Lincoln's Inn, UK) and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Partner in FM Associates, talks to The Daily Star's Moyukh Mahtab about needed reforms in sexual violence and harassment laws in Bangladesh and the importance of raising awareness, especially among children.

April 3, 2018
April 3, 2018

Legal loopholes favour rapists, harm victims

The staggering statistics collected by Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) of the number of women and girls raped is a cruel reminder of how little has changed when it comes to the incidence of sexual violence in this country.

November 29, 2017
November 29, 2017

Sexual violence rampant

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad has revealed that at least 50 women and children were raped in Thakurgaon district alone in the last ten months. They prepared the report based on the data from local hospitals where the victims were admitted or took treatment.

November 13, 2017
November 13, 2017

Rohingya women gang-raped by Myanmar army

United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten yesterday said they consistently heard about sexual violence from Rohingya survivors, including gang rape of women by multiple soldiers.

October 17, 2017
October 17, 2017

Dhaka 7th worst megacity for women: Poll

Dhaka has been rated as the seventh worst megacity for women and Cairo positioned the last in the list, followed by Karachi, Kinshasa and New Delhi, according to an international poll with women's rights experts.

July 11, 2017
July 11, 2017

The burden of guilt

So much has been said and written about sexual harassment of late. Much of it attributed to sexual harassment on campuses of colleges and universities, particularly in North America, and left the voice of the abused in silence. In all these writings, less has been said about the hyper-sexualised society where we often overlook the importance of consent when it comes to sexual behaviour. Thoughts get tangled in trying to analyse on whom does the blame of such abuses lie.