From memory to mobilisation: Confronting violence against women in Bangladesh’s digital age

Yesterday, on 25 November, the world observed International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women — a date rooted in tragedy and resistance. 

It dates back to 1960, when, on this very day, sisters Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal — three political activists who opposed the cruelty and systematic violence of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic — were brutally murdered and dumped at the bottom of a cliff by Trujillo's secret police. The Mirabal sisters became global symbols of feminist resistance.

Since 1991, activists have expanded this commemoration into the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, a global campaign that runs from 25 November to 10 December, Human Rights Day, and which was formally recognised by the United Nations in 1999.

"End digital violence against all women and girls" — this year's theme — is particularly critical and urgent for Bangladesh. As we rapidly expand our online spaces, opportunities have grown, but so too have new forms of exposure to harassment, surveillance and abuse. 

The very technologies designed to empower women are increasingly being weaponised against them. On this day of remembrance, the call is to transform memory into mobilisation and confront the evolving forms of gender-based violence in a digitising society.

From Rokeya to Birangonas: Bangladesh's history written in resistance

Bangladesh's women's movement and its struggle for justice are long-standing. We have seen everything from Begum Rokeya's fight for women's education to campaigns against acid attacks, child marriage and dowry.

Our history is marked by the Liberation War of 1971, when thousands of Birangonas (war heroines) experienced systematic sexual violence. This reminds us that gendered violence is inseparable from political turmoil. The fight against violence is ultimately a fight for the nation's dignity and soul.

Bangladesh's crisis: Violence in every sphere

The prevalence and magnitude of violence against women in Bangladesh are alarming, despite decades of activism and legal reforms. The 2024 National Violence Against Women Survey reports that 76% of women aged 15 and above have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime, while 64% of survivors of physical and/or sexual violence never disclosed the abuse to anyone — highlighting the silencing effect of stigma and fear (BBS & UNFPA, 2024).

The same report finds that 16% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence by non-partners in their lifetime, and that adolescent girls aged 15–19 face the highest risk of non-partner violence. Public spaces, therefore, remain equally unsafe for women and girls.

Violence against women is rooted in patriarchal norms and social structures that control women's mobility, sexuality and speech. Although protective laws such as the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 and the Digital Security Act 2018 exist, enforcement remains weak, leaving survivors vulnerable to victim-blaming and systemic indifference. Across private, public and digital spaces, violence shadows women's lives, forcing them to constantly negotiate fear and control.

The new frontier: Online harassment and TFGBV

Bangladesh's rapid digitisation has opened new opportunities for women in social media, e-commerce and the digital gig economy. Yet it has also exposed them to heightened risks of online or technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV).

This violence takes many forms, including coordinated harassment and rape threats, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, doxxing and cyberstalking. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the overall global prevalence of online violence against women is 85%, with younger women most likely to have personally experienced it.

The 2024 National Violence Against Women Survey identified TFGBV as a critical concern (BBS & UNFPA, 2024), reporting that 8% of women with access to technology had experienced TFGBV in their lifetime, and that 16% of women aged 20–24 faced such abuse — the highest among younger and urban women. 

Notably, 46% of perpetrators are strangers, the largest share among all TFGBV cases. Women journalists, activists and politicians — whose voices are essential to public life — are disproportionately targeted and often silenced or pressured to withdraw complaints.

The consequences of TFGBV are profound: survivors often suffer long-term psychological trauma, economic setbacks from withdrawing from online work, and diminished political participation as their voices are drowned out in digital forums. What begins as online abuse frequently spills into offline harm, eroding women's safety in both virtual and physical spaces.

Statistics alone cannot capture the lived trauma of TFGBV. As the author, I have lived this reality. My then-boyfriend, himself a journalist, tracked my movements for nearly four years without my knowledge and even cloned my mobile phone. 

When I discovered this, I felt my privacy had been violently invaded — stripped bare in a way I will never forget. It was as if my autonomy had been stolen, leaving me exposed and powerless. This experience underscores that TFGBV is not abstract; it is deeply personal, corrosive and devastating.

What must change

In Bangladesh, these dangers are intensified by low digital literacy, entrenched victim-blaming norms and weak institutional safeguards. Existing laws, such as the Digital Security Act 2018, frequently fail to protect survivors and can even be misused to suppress free speech, leaving women vulnerable in both digital and physical spaces. 

As a result, the promise of digital empowerment is undermined by systemic failures to confront the evolving nature of gender-based violence, threatening to push women further to the margins of the nation's digital future.

This article is an act of solidarity linking Bangladesh's struggle to a global movement while underscoring its local urgency. It connects today's battles to the legacy of the Mirabal sisters, reminds us that violence against women is political, and insists that threats online are as real as those on the street.

This year's theme challenges Bangladesh to move beyond the rhetoric of "Digital Bangladesh" and ensure that our digital future is safe and inclusive for women and girls.

Ending TFGBV requires systemic reform. Laws must protect survivors rather than silence them; tech platforms must be held accountable; and digital literacy must challenge misogyny while engaging men and boys. Law enforcement and courts need training to handle digital evidence sensitively, and survivor-centred support — including counselling, legal aid and safe reporting mechanisms — must be expanded.

A call to courage

The 16 Days of Activism remind us that violence against women is preventable. For Bangladesh, courage means naming TFGBV, believing survivors, and building systems that protect rather than punish.

The legacy of the Mirabal sisters — echoed by Begum Rokeya and countless Bangladeshi heroines — shows that resistance is contagious. On this day, Bangladesh must commit not only to remembrance but to mobilisation, ensuring that our digital future is one of safety, opportunity and equality.

Sketch: TBS

Shahanoor Akter Chowdhury is a gender rights activist and feminist researcher. Email: chowdhury.shahanoor@gmail.com

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.