A STORM of violence against women is sweeping, quietly engulfing lives and breaking families. Every day, women face threats not only on the roads but also within their houses, the very places that should offer them safety. From brutal assaults and domestic abuse to cyber harassment and emotional torture, the patterns of violence are deepening, yet society remains largely indifferent. If global rankings were made, Bangladesh would tragically stand among the top few countries where women endure the highest levels of violence.
The recent elections to the Dhaka University Central Students鈥� Union, a long-awaited moment of festivity and empowerment, briefly lit up social media with images of smiling women celebrating victory. Yet, amid that celebration, a vulgar comment from a fellow student on one such photograph revealed the ugly undercurrent of misogyny and moral decay that still grips society. It was a stark reminder that no space, be it public transport, offices, houses or digital platforms, is safe for women. From acid attacks to rape, from psychological torture to online blackmail, the cycle of abuse has become so pervasive that it risks being normalised in the national consciousness.
These are not isolated incidents. They form part of a long-brewing epidemic that festers beneath the surface of silence. The stories that make the headlines are merely the visible fragments of a far deeper crisis. Unless the roots of this violence are confronted and uprooted, Bangladesh faces a future defined by fear, trauma, and collective moral collapse.
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Numbers that speak
THE Violence Against Women Survey 2024, jointly conducted by the Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Population Fund, presents a sobering picture of gender-based violence across the country. This third national survey, following rounds in 2011 and 2015, offers the most comprehensive dataset to date, tracking how patterns of violence have evolved over the decade and highlighting disparities among women in slums, disaster-prone regions and those living with disabilities.
The findings show that three out of every four women, or 76 per cent, have experienced some form of violence from their spouse or intimate partner at least once in their lifetime while 49 per cent faced such violence in the past year alone. Nearly 62 per cent of survivors have never disclosed their experiences to anyone, reflecting the deep-rooted stigma and silence surrounding domestic abuse.
While spousal violence has decreased from 66 per cent in 2015 to 49 per cent in 2024, the overall prevalence remains alarmingly high. The survey categorises intimate partner violence as encompassing physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse, along with controlling behaviour, forms that together reveal how power and coercion shape women鈥檚 daily realities.
Beyond domestic spaces, 15 per cent of women aged 15 and above have experienced physical violence and 2.2 per cent have faced sexual violence from non-partners, often at the hands of male relatives, neighbours or acquaintances. The findings dismantle the myth that women鈥檚 safety is most threatened by strangers. Instead, it is those closest to them who most often inflict harm.
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Sexual violence: disturbing normal
THE report shows that more than a half of women (54 per cent) have experienced physical or sexual violence by their husbands at some point. Among those subjected to sexual violence, 60 per cent endured repeated incidents within the past year, showing how cycles of abuse persist within marriage.
Violence does not stop even during pregnancy. Among married women, 7.2 per cent experienced physical violence and 5.3 per cent experienced sexual violence while pregnant, revealing the extent to which women鈥檚 vulnerability is exploited even in moments that should invite protection and care.
The survey further identified mothers-in-law and male relatives as the most frequent perpetrators of physical violence against women, while male relatives, friends and acquaintances were most often responsible for sexual violence. The patterns underline the family-centred roots of women鈥檚 suffering.
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Violence in digital space
VIOLENCE has also migrated to the digital realm. The survey revealed that 8.3 per cent of women have experienced technology-facilitated gender-based violence, including image-based abuse, sexual blackmail and other forms of online harassment. This growing menace signals a new frontier of abuse that thrives on anonymity and impunity in cyberspace.
As more women engage in online education, business and activism, the threat of cyber violence discourages their participation in digital and public life. Despite the presence of cybercrime laws, enforcement remains inconsistent, and survivors often face secondary victimisation during the reporting process.
Perhaps the most distressing finding of the survey is the low rate of service-seeking among victims. Only 14.5 per cent of women subjected to violence sought medical treatment. Among women facing spousal violence, just 7.4 per cent pursued legal action, most opting, instead, to seek help from local community leaders or informal mediators. In cases of non-partner violence, only 3.8 per cent of victims took legal measures although a larger share approached the police for assistance.
The awareness of support services remains dangerously low. Fewer than a half of women (48.5 per cent) know where to report incidents of violence and only 12.3 per cent are aware of the national helpline 109, specifically designed to support victims of gender-based violence.
UNFPA representative Catherine Breen Kamkong noted during the report launch, 鈥楾he evidence is clear: violence against women remains a widespread human rights crisis in Bangladesh鈥� this report must mark the beginning of transformative action to prevent violence, strengthen services, and ensure justice for survivors.鈥�
Similarly, BBS director general Mohammed Mizanur Rahman emphasised that the survey serves as a vital evidence base for policy and institutional strengthening to ensure safe and ethical data collection in future rounds.
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Symbolic measures, limited impact
THE government has announced several initiatives to combat violence against women, but many remain largely symbolic or poorly implemented. The national helpline 109, for instance, suffers from acute staff shortage, delayed salaries and high call-drop rates. Although it has received hundreds of thousands of calls since its launch, it lacks the operational capacity to conduct rescue missions or coordinate immediate interventions.
Newer initiatives such as the short-code helpline 3333, which connects callers directly to the police through an integrated system, remain uncertain in both launch and effectiveness. Similarly, once-promising apps like Bachao and Joy, developed to provide real-time assistance, are now defunct because of budget cuts and administrative lapses.
A new app titled Help, designed to protect women in public transport through QR-based reporting, has been launched on limited routes in Dhaka. While innovative in concept, its nationwide expansion and integration with the 999 helpline will determine whether it becomes a viable model for safety or just another short-lived project.
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Way forward
HELPLINES and apps alone cannot address the depth of gender violence crisis. The survey and UNFPA鈥檚 recommendations point to the urgent need for a survivor-centred, multi-sectoral approach that unites justice, health care, law enforcement and social welfare under a coordinated national framework.
The country must ensure swift and certain punishment for perpetrators, expand shelters and safe houses, specially in rural and disaster-prone regions, and provide survivors with affordable healthcare and legal aid. Without reducing the out-of-pocket costs of justice, most women will continue to endure abuse in silence.
Equally crucial are long-term structural changes: empowering women and adolescent girls through education and economic independence, engaging men and boys as allies in dismantling toxic masculinity and challenging patriarchal norms that normalise violence. Ending this epidemic is not only a moral obligation but also a requisite for sustainable development and its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Communities are already showing signs of resistance. Local councils are creating safe spaces. Women鈥檚 groups are organising awareness campaigns. And, the youth are increasingly vocal about equality and consent. The momentum for change exists. What is required now is decisive will, sustained investment and collective courage.
The choice before us is stark: confront this epidemic with compassion, urgency, and justice or condemn another generation of women and girls to lives of silence, servitude and fear.
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Nafew Sajed Joy ([email protected]) is a researcher, writer and environmentalist.