Violence against women and children continues to be one of the most serious human rights challenges in Bangladesh. Decades of initiatives, policy reforms and programmatic attempts have done little to curb the nature and extent of abuse. To counter this, government’s commendable journey began with the initiation of the Tk 309.39 crore project “Strengthening Integrated Services to Prevent and Remedy Violence against Women and Children and Activities of the Quick Response Team” to be executed from July 2025 to December 2029. This is more than just another project — it is possibly a step in a fresh direction.
This project, implemented by Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) through the Department of Women Affairs, is a logical continuation of the ‘Multi-Sectoral Programme on Violence against Women, which was initiated in 2000. The programme has, over the years, supported the creation of 14 One-Stop Crisis Centres (OCCs), 67 OSCCs, the National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory and eight regional DNA screening labs. These centers have been essential, but the existing realities call for a reformed, community-based and proactive response.
Bangladesh may show the way
in South Asia, leading from the
front —saving the future of its
people by ensuring the safety
of its women and children
In 2024, a total of 1,200 women were raped, according to Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK). The violence of dowry, physical abuse and also harassment happened to countless many. Children, especially girls, are also at bigger risk of being trafficked or being forced into child marriage. Shockingly, Bangladesh still has a high incidence of child marriage worldwide, UNICEF currently estimates 51 percent of girls married before they reach 18. These numbers highlight a longstanding problem that infrastructure alone can’t fix.
It takes a multi-pronged approach to the project. It will further strengthen emergency response through Quick Response Teams, bolstering of media awareness, assistance to survivors including outsourced services and the collaborations between government, NGO and civil society. Importantly, the intervention underscores local ownership through the participation of community members, school children and teachers in prevention.
But the success of this effort will depend on proper execution. There are no shortage of well-designed programmes in Bangladesh, but many have failed to make headway for reasons including dismal enforcement, unsatisfactory funding and lack of public faith in institutions. This project has to avoid those traps through transparency, accountability and continuous supervision. Survivors need to feel safe to report abuse without stigma or fear of retaliation and perpetrators must be held to timely and certain account.
Combating violence against women and children is not only a legal imperative, but a moral and developmental necessity. This is a project that at its heart may infect the nation with that virus acting as a positive immune response, given the right people do it and do it in the right way. Bangladesh may show the way in South Asia, leading from the front —saving the future of its people by ensuring the safety of its women and children.
