Bangladesh plans global platform against women's digital harassment: Shama

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam today (3 September) said Bangladesh is moving to launch a global platform to combat digital harassment against women, with a Dhaka event planned ahead of the UN General Assembly session.

"We want to establish a global platform that Bangladesh will own and initiate," she said while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion organised by Bangladesh Mahila Parishad at CIRDAP here to mark International CEDAW Day.

Shama said Bangladesh had floated the initiative, titled "Ending Digital Harassment Against Women: Dhaka Dialogue", at the Dakar Peace and Security Forum in Senegal about three months ago.

She said the government plans to hold a programme in Dhaka on the initiative ahead of the upcoming UN General Assembly session and wants to stage a "curtain-raiser" during the UNGA High-Level Week.

The state minister said digital harassment against women has become a global challenge that transcends national borders, requiring coordinated international action.

"Whoever I speak to, women in every country face the same problem, although its extent may vary," she said.

Shama said social media has effectively become part of the mainstream information landscape, but harassment targeting women on digital platforms has also increased significantly.

She sought Bangladesh Mahila Parishad's cooperation with the foreign ministry in advancing the initiative.

The state minister also said Bangladesh is working on its third National Action Plan in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.

Highlighting women's political participation, Shama said Bangladesh remained behind in ensuring women's representation through direct elections and placing qualified women in decision-making positions.

Addressing the situation would require political will as well as broader social change, she said.

"I believe this is a social problem. It is not something that a state or a government alone can solve. There has to be a social revolution," she said.

Shama noted that although young people who participated in the anti-discrimination and anti-fascist movements had entered politics, relatively few young women involved in those movements were now visible in the political arena.

She urged women's organisations to engage more closely with female lawmakers and suggested forming a parliamentary team to advance issues concerning women's rights and representation.

Turning to women's economic empowerment, Shama said the government had allocated more than Tk 3.26 trillion under the gender budget, equivalent to around 34.8 percent of the national budget.

She highlighted initiatives involving Family Cards, Farmers' Cards, free education for female students up to postgraduate level, support for women entrepreneurs and proposed women welfare centres at the union level.

The state minister said women's empowerment should not be confined to economic independence, stressing the importance of ensuring their safety, mobility and access to prompt and impartial justice.

She also highlighted the government's focus on skilled migration for women, saying vocational training and foreign-language proficiency would help Bangladeshi women secure better employment abroad with dignity.

Shama said the foreign ministry has established a dedicated Migration Wing and an inter-ministerial focal team with the Expatriates' Welfare Ministry to address problems faced by Bangladeshi migrant workers.

On CEDAW, she reaffirmed Bangladesh's longstanding commitment to the convention and said the country's state report would be reviewed next year.

She welcomed the initiative to prepare a CEDAW shadow report, saying independent and constructive assessments by civil society could help identify both achievements and shortcomings.

"The overall development and progress of a country can never be achieved by leaving women behind," Shama said.

She said the government believed all women should enjoy equal rights irrespective of religion, ethnicity or other identities and sought cooperation from civil society and women's organisations in making women equal partners in Bangladesh's development.

Bangladesh ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 6 November, 1984. However, Bangladesh still maintains reservations to two important provisions of the convention.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted CEDAW on 18 December, 1979. The convention was opened for signature on 1 March, 1980, and entered into force on 3 September, 1981. Bangladesh ratified the convention several years later.

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad has been observing the day since 1991, calling for the full implementation of the CEDAW Convention.