Protest to possibility: Can we truly empower young women through skills, safety, and solidarity?

Photo: Collected

As this year's World Youth Skills Day 2025 is being celebrated under the theme "Youth Advancing Multilateral Cooperation Through Technology and Partnerships," I cannot help but feel frustrated.

While we celebrate youth achievements and strong civic agency, we cannot even ensure basic rights for women in public spaces. Women beaten and harassed on streets by mob violence is fresh in everyone's memory, having large scale implications on women joining training and the workforce. 

Last year's July Uprising, when students reclaimed public spheres with courage and optimism, remains fresh in our minds. As far as I recall, at least seven women died during the movement last July, but their stories have disappeared under the strong male narratives. 

Yet, behind the scenes, young women faced a double burden. While leading digital campaigns and community dialogues, they continue to be harassed — on streets, buses, campuses, and in digital spaces. Their bravery was visible, but their protection was not. Failing to hold perpetrators accountable, and negative comments by policy makers in the country have resulted in continued violence against women.  

The women's commission's reform recommendations became a charade of backlashes. Worse still is how defenders of women's rights have become targets. In too many forums, advocating for safety measures is met with coded accusations of "Western influence" or "religious intolerance." 

Youth can clearly disrupt entrenched systems. Yet, if young women remain unsafe, the revolution stops half-way. They are forced to remain in corners — of classrooms, of homes, of screens — where their talents cannot grow freely. Bangladesh cannot afford a divided revolution. 

This is not culture — it is fear of losing the power of traditional subjugation cloaked in culture. Bangladesh's values include fair treatment for daughters, sisters, mothers, wives — all women. Our laws enshrine women's rights. But without enforcement, policy is powerless, and so is progress.

Institutions must stand for women's rights in public spaces

The solution begins with institutions. We need a Women's Commission that truly investigates and acts — not just sits in closed rooms. We need urban planners to install neighbourhood watches with bright streetlights where girls travel. We need public transport systems designed with women's safety in mind — safe seats, verified drivers, visible monitors. 

We need law enforcement to take harassment seriously, record reports honestly, and prosecute transparently. We need to stop people from harassing women for what they wear. 

Skills projects must think beyond donor projects 

While skills and vocational programmes have flourished, reaching thousands of young women across the country, I have seen during my decade long experience in the field that increasing women's training efforts don't work if we cannot give them a safe transport system from home to work, and security at workplaces. 

Billions of dollars are spent on training, and nowadays 'non-traditional' occupations have been chosen for women's participation. This would have been a great incentive for girls, if they were 'sticking' to such work. Care burden and continuous social barriers create hindrance for women, and ultimately they drop out. If homes and workplaces are not women friendly — no amount of training will help. 

So digital literacy is irrelevant if a girl cannot safely board the bus to go to work after she becomes a graphics designer. Confidence is hollow if a young woman fears walking home after class. That's because rights are not fulfilled by certificates alone—they are lived everyday. Rights are the ability to commute without fear, speak without being shamed, and aspire without being silenced.

Therefore, every skills training strategy must include safe transport. Every entrepreneurship course must account for mobility constraints. Every session on digital tools must be paired with sessions on personal safety online and offline. This is largely missing. So when the Government, World Bank and ADB consultants are designing large scale programmes, they need to keep in mind women's mobility is an important element post-training. 

Community must be accountable

Parents, civil society, religious leaders, and neighbours all must stand up for women's labour market participation. It is not enough to tweet solidarity. If we truly believe in empowering young women, we must create real pathways — safe and respectful — for their journeys. That means speaking out against harassment when it is seen — on the bus, on social media, in your own family.

Women at the centre

Young women themselves must be at the centre. They must lead the audits of public spaces, nominate where safety needs fixing, and speak on forums with the expectation of being heard — always. On this World Youth Skills Day, let's commit to real action. Not just programmes with "girls" in the title, but programmes with safe transit in the budget, street surveys in their activity planning, and legal training for survivors in the design. When a girl says, "All I want is to walk to my workplace at night without fear," the question is familiar, yet urgent. The answer is within reach — if we stop managing symptoms and start fixing systems.

Let's prove that our revolution is for all, not just for half. It is time to light every street, secure every bus, and protect every girl. Because a nation that fails to respect its women is failing its future.

Tasmiah has been a development practitioner for the last 20 years. She has worked extensively in the field, in youth and skills development with gender and intersectional lens. 

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