BRAC University holds seminar on women’s safety

Student club Peace Café and the Counselling and Wellness Centre of BRAC University, in collaboration with the platform Cyber Support for Women and Children (CSWC), recently organised a seminar titled "Accelerating Women's Safety: International Women's Day".

Held at the university's Merul Badda campus in Dhaka on 8 March 2025 to celebrate International Women's Day, the seminar focused on addressing the challenges and ways to ensure women's safety in Bangladesh.

Inaugurating the program, Dr David Dowland, Registrar, emphasised the crucial role of students and youth in driving social change. He expressed confidence in young minds' determination to create a safer environment for women and children. 

Manzoor Hasan OBE, Executive Director, Centre for Peace and Justice, BRAC University, focused on three key points. They include alarming statistics of violence against women and children in Bangladesh, multifaceted challenges in addressing this issue, and strategies to increase youth engagement in combating violence and promoting gender equality.

Tania Sharmin, Planning, Monitoring, and Reporting Analyst, UN Women, underscored the importance of strengthening grassroots feminist movements and increasing women's political representation. She called for intensifying efforts to ensure women's safety, promoting equality in decision-making, and enhancing digital inclusion.

Safina Binte Enayet, a Counsellor at the Counselling and Wellness Centre, expressed concern over rising incidents of violence against women and children, highlighting the severe short-term and long-term psychological harm it causes. She urged all to work jointly towards eliminating inequality and being more mindful of others while prioritising mental health.

Manisha Biswas, Senior Officer (Legal and Research) at Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, which runs the CSWC platform, explained the definitions and elements of cyber harassment and highlighted legal measures that victims could take.

Minhaj Aman, Research Coordinator, Digitally Right, which describes itself as a private company offering critical knowledge and solutions regarding information flows, highlighted an alarming rise of technology-facilitated gender-based violence in Bangladesh. Pointing out a lack of evidence-based research on this issue within the country, he urged prioritising conducting studies to generate more credible data.

Sadat Hasan, Founder and President of Cyber Teens, discussed their initiative to enhance online safety for teenagers through their helpline, educational programs, and community outreach.

Tahsina Rahman, Joint Director of Student Life at BRAC University, and Sorna Rani Das, President of Peace Café, also spoke.