‘1,441 incidents of violence against women, children last year’

Sayeed Muhammad of DOT
At least 1,441 incidents of violence against women and children occurred in the country last year, Zinat Ara Haque, executive coordinator of We Can Bangladesh, has said. Of them, 996 were women and the rest were children, with around half the incidents taking place in Dhaka division, reports The Daily Star. The figures were disclosed at a roundtable at the newspaper’s office in Dhaka yesterday, stressing the need for building awareness and change in mindset to end violence against women and children in the country. We Can Bangladesh, a platform of civil society members, arranged the roundtable on “Violence against Women: Possibilities to Get Support.”
Sharing the findings, Zinat said violent incidents against women and children are taking place frequently in the country while many of the incidents go unreported.
Chairing and moderating of the roundtable, We Can Bangladesh’s Co-chair Shaheen Anam said they are engaged in working to end the violence, but sometimes being frustrated because of such violence goes on unabatedly.
According to the findings of the platform prepared based on reports published in six national dailies, 468 people were murders and 396 were rape during the time.
Also, 135 women and children committed suicide and 179 incidents of sexual harassments took place while the organisation recorded around 71 incidents of domestic violence last year.
It found around 467 incidents of such violence took place within families, eight incidents took place at workplaces, 45 at educational institutions, 18 in public transports, 21 at public places, and 11 at residential hotels.
Besides, only 69 cases related to the violence against women and children saw the light of the verdicts in 2018.
Of the cases filed in different years, 41 were murder cases and 18 were rape.