Children no longer safe even within four walls: Nipun Roy

Children in Bangladesh are no longer safe even within their own homes, BNP leader and reserved-seat Member of Parliament Nipun Roy Chowdhury said, citing a sharp rise in cyber bullying, online harassment, and the production of obscene content involving minors as technology proliferates across the country.

Speaking at a roundtable titled "Child Abuse in Bangladesh and the Way Forward" at Shahbagh in the capital on Saturday (June 6), Roy said child abuse, sexual violence, and exploitation have been rising steadily since the COVID-19 pandemic — and that in the majority of cases, the perpetrators are known individuals or close relatives of the victims.

"When a child is abused, it is not just their present that is destroyed — their entire future is damaged," she said. "Building a safe, fear-free Bangladesh for children is a collective responsibility."

The event was organised by the Legal and Health Assistance Cell for Abused Women and Children.

Roy pointed to economic hardship as a driving factor, noting that many children are being pushed into labour — working as domestic helps or in workshops — where they become exposed to physical and psychological abuse.

She identified inadequate enforcement of existing laws as the single biggest barrier to child protection, arguing that social stigma, a culture of impunity, and prolonged legal proceedings keep a vast number of cases buried in silence.

On the digital front, the lawmaker flagged the alarming spread of cyberbullying and online grooming, stressing that the reach of technology had effectively stripped children of the last safe space — their own homes.

She urged that children be educated about the difference between appropriate and inappropriate physical contact.

Proposals put forward:

A national child protection dashboard to track abuse data
A unified mobile application for lodging complaints
Child-friendly corners in every police station across the country
Dedicated special tribunals for the fast-track trial of child abuse cases

Roy called for coordinated action among families, the state, and civil society to reverse the trend, warning that piecemeal responses had so far failed to produce meaningful change.