Can women consider the country as their own?

On March 4, Matsushima Sumaya, a player of the national women's football team, mentioned on her verified Facebook page that she was constantly receiving death and rape threats. She also said that she was mentally broken due to these continuous threats.

Many might still remember Mangali Bagchi from Batiaghata Upazila in Khulna. She was a local football player. A year and a half ago, she was beaten and her head was cracked over a football game. She was mocked with the words, "Why does such a big girl play in shorts?" Three more teenage players were injured during the incident. A case is still pending against three locals in this regard. However, the scary thing is that Mangali is now under pressure again. A group active against women's football has caused her to fear and she has moved back home from her mess.

On January 29, the women's friendly football match was canceled after the tin fence at the Tilakpur High School ground in Akkelpur upazila of Joypurhat was vandalized. Later, on February 5, the upazila administration brought a women's team from Dhaka and organized a game in the presence of thousands of spectators at that field. On February 6, the game between the Joypurhat women's team and the Rajshahi women's team in Taraganj upazila of Rangpur was canceled due to threats of protests.

A photo from the student movement against discrimination recently circulated on Facebook. Two women dressed in burkas and T-shirts, standing side by side with sticks in their hands. If the dress code had not been questioned during the movement, why is it being raised now? Why must a girl be harassed over whether her scarf is on or off? Why is the abuser greeted with garlands of flowers?

Efforts were made to contact the women who were harassed in the Dhaka University area and Lalmatia through acquaintances. They said that they are so mentally disturbed by the incidents that they do not wish to talk about it. Even though one of the victims filed a case regarding the incident involving the scarf, she no longer wants to pursue it. Also, there has been no case filed regarding the assault of two women over smoking.

On March 5th, efforts were made to contact the women harassed in the Dhaka University area and on March 1st in Lalmatia. The women expressed that they are too mentally distressed to discuss the matter. One of the victims who had filed a case regarding the scarf incident no longer wants to pursue it, and no case has been filed over the assault of two women over smoking. However, after the accused Mustafa Asif Arnob was released from the police station, the negative impact of welcoming him with flower garlands will have a dangerous effect on society. The story doesn’t end here; a group has become active in supporting Arnob and targeting the girl. Women will fear leaving their homes, and incidents of abuse, harassment, and violence against women and girls on streets, in public spaces, campuses, madrassas, sports grounds, and homes have only increased women’s fears.

Recently, the joint member secretary of the National Citizen Party, Dr. Mahmuda Mitu wrote in a Facebook post, “If I could show the abuse, threats and messages in my inbox, any sane person would go crazy. The number of sexually perverted people is increasing at a dangerous rate.”

In a seminar in 2024, gender expert and Chief of Staff of Tech Global Institute, Fauzia Afroz, said, “Women’s participation in politics in the country is already low. Conservative culture and social behavior discourage women from getting involved in politics. If misinformation is spread on this, there is a risk that women’s participation in politics will be further reduced.”

She showed that during political activism or elections, the top ten people who are targeted with misinformation on digital media are women. These women have faced significant harassment on social media through trolling, doxing, deepfake images, intimate photos, and sexual harassment comments.

Increasing awareness about the importance of women’s participation in politics is not enough; attention must be drawn to inequality in every sector of family and society. It cannot be just women who are made aware, but men must also be informed that ensuring women’s participation in politics is not just a game of puppets, but a necessity for development. In an ideal society, we wouldn’t need quotas, and half of the elected representatives would be women. The history of patriarchy has not allowed this. The examples of women not failing in real leadership roles need to be shown to society.

Just as Nusrat Jahan and Umama Fatema were victims of online harassment during the July uprising, subsequent victims like Professor Giti Ara Nasrin, Samina Lutfar, journalist Dipti Chowdhury, Barrister Rumin Farhana, and even Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan have not been spared. Even before them, Lucky Akter, the fiery woman from the Gono Jagoron Movement, continuously faces violent digital harassment. Likewise, actresses Meher Afroze Shaon and Sohana Saba have also become victims of digital violence. Despite the difference in ideologies of the attackers, when it comes to character assassination of women, they all stand united.

Even when men are attacked on digital platforms, the women associated with them are often targeted. We have seen this in the cases of cricketer Shakib Al Hasan's wife and Mayor Atiqul's daughter. We are now seeing the same thing with the daughter of the chief advisor’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam. He had to tell the media that had he known his family would be targeted in this way, he would never have taken up this position.

In a recent protest in Mohammadpur, Adrita Roy was specifically targeted due to her father's identity, Anjan Roy. When people want to demean a person or family, choosing the female member of that family proves to be the most effective method.

The trend of violence against women and girls remains largely unchanged. According to the statistics from the police headquarters, the number of cases filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act in 2024 has decreased compared to 2023. However, several incidents of violence against women and children have deeply affected the public. Particularly, the sexual abuse of women during a robbery on a bus traveling from Dhaka to Rajshahi on February 17th.

According to the police statistics, 17,571 cases of violence against women and children were filed in 2024. Of these, 6,867 cases were filed between August and December. In 2023, 18,941 cases were filed. In January 2025, 1,440 cases were filed.

Whether in politics, on the sports field, in universities, madrassas, state institutions, social activism, or among celebrities, the tools used by Bangladeshi men, sometimes with the help of women, to silence, suppress, and push women back in the digital world are continually being used. Where will this end? Where will these women, victims of horrific violence and abuse, go for justice, when sometimes the state itself encourages such behavior? Do we even have a place to seek justice in this country? Do women have any chance of getting fair justice?

Ten years ago, during Mullah Omar's Taliban rule in Afghanistan, men marched and protested for women's rights in Kabul, wearing burkas. The banner read, “Stop all violence against women in the streets.” This news spread widely in the media. But now, such protests are nonexistent. In Bangladesh, with groups like "Touhid Janata" infringing on women's freedom and rights, will we, like Afghan youth, be forced to protest in the same way?

After the political changes, protests against rape and abuse have continued, but incidents of harassment and violence against women persist, with no initiatives taken by the interim government to improve law and order or address these issues. Instead, their silence reveals their subservience to religious political parties.

In the presence of the government, it is clear that without speeches by the chief adviser or announcements like "Devil Hunt Operation" or midnight press conferences, the government’s actions are invisible. Despite repeated requests from civil society, there has been no encouraging response from the government.

In particular, regarding the Lalmatia incident, the comment from the home affairs adviser, Lieutenant General (Retd.) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, triggered negative reactions. His statement made it clear that the government’s position is weak and unacceptable. He stated, “From what I’ve heard, they (the two young women) were smoking cigarettes, and some people were going to pray. When they were stopped, they threw tea at those people.” He added, “Smoking in public places is an offense for both men and women. So I urge everyone not to smoke in open spaces."

Rather than such careless statements, the public hopes for the government to take visible action to punish those responsible for women’s abuse. Otherwise, the family of the child from Magura who is fighting for her life at CMH will also not be able to consider this country their own. If we evade responsibility, we will be the criminals in the eyes of this child and future children. The question is, is the state ready to fulfill this responsibility?

After the 1970s cyclone, Maulana Bhashani pointed at the West Pakistani government and said, "They didn’t come." That image was a major headline in newspapers at the time. To the government, I say, please be open about this, not in the middle of the night, but in the light of day.

Author: Columnist and Organizer