THE staggering regularity in violence inflicted on women and girls suggests a crisis that is not only widespread but also systemic. At least 235 women and girls were subjected to violence in various forms, including rape, murder, trafficking and domestic abuse, in July, as a Bangladesh Mahila Parishad report says. Seventy-four of them were raped and 45 of them were minors. Eleven women and four girls endured gang rape whilst one woman was murdered after assault and another young victim committed suicide. The statistics extend far beyond sexual violence: 66 women, including 10 girls, were killed in the month, with 11 deaths classified as unnatural. Additionally, 18 women, including three household services workers, committed suicide, suggesting a psychological toll of persistent abuse. Sexual harassment affected 15 females, nine of whom were children, while three lost their lives from dowry-related torture. The report also record 10 cases of abduction, 10 of trafficking, 3 of other forms of violence, 3 of physical assaults, and 3 of acid attacks. Viewed alongside the 1,555 cases recorded in January鈥揓une, the figures point not to a breakdown but to a sustained, structural failure.
This epidemic of violence stems from a deeply entrenched culture of impunity that flourishes when the justice system fails to respond properly. It is not merely that the legal system is slow but it is permissive in its silence. Systemic delays in legal proceedings create an enabling environment where perpetrators act with impunity. Each delayed trial and each uninvestigated report signals that gender-based violence is neither urgent nor consequential. This lethargy is not neutral. It actively harms. It emboldens aggressors, silences survivors and turns violence into a tolerable cost of living for women. This legal inertia erodes public trust and deters reporting, particularly among marginalised and rural communities. Women begin to internalise insecurity as inevitable. Families, fearing retaliation or shame, restrict girls鈥� education, mobility and aspirations. This is not only a matter of personal safety. It is also about structural disempowerment. With public space shrinking, women are reduced to a peripheral existence in both law and society. Patriarchal structures, meanwhile, gain strength, cloaked in inaction. The psychological trauma lingers, untreated and often unacknowledged, compounding cycles of silence, shame and sufferings.
The government should act beyond condemnation. Expeditious investigation, visible legal consequences and protection for survivors should be non-negotiable. Preventive and punitive measures should be consistent. Women鈥檚 safety should be realised, sustained and guaranteed.
