Bangladesh’s Hidden Wounds: A Nation Failing Its Daughters

Violence against women is one of the most serious violations of human rights all over the world. Gender-based violence takes many forms in South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh, with domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, child marriage, and sexual harassment in workplace being the most common. The alarming point is that a significant proportion of cases go unreported. My research aims to identify the systematic barriers and social or legal obstacles that influence victims not to report the case to police or the legal framework, despite the fact that victims are supposed to report the incident as the first step. Unreported violence against women statistics from Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics are extremely concerning.

The aforementioned table of 2024 data on violence against women in Bangladesh reveals significant barriers to justice, with domestic violence being the most underreported crime—59.7% of cases (312 out of 523) went unreported. Rape cases (401) had a higher reporting rate (83.3%), but 67 victims did not seek legal action. Similarly, 84.2% of minor rapes (234 cases) were reported, but 37 cases went unreported. The non-reporting rate for attempted rape was 40.4% (44 cases out of 109) (Ain o Sishu Kendra, 2024).

Chart: Comparison of different Crime occurrence rate between Jan 2024 and Jan 2025

However, a comparison of violence against women in Bangladesh from January 2024 to January 2025 reveals alarming trends. While domestic violence cases remained relatively stable (41 in 2024 versus 40 in 2025), suicides increased from 11 to 13, highlighting ongoing victim distress. Rape cases increased from 29 to 39 (34.5%), while child rape cases increased from 18 to 21. Although more rape cases were reported and filed in 2025, a large number of domestic violence incidents (more than 52%) remain unreported (Ain o Salish Kendra, 2025).

Furthermore, according to a recent report published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), more than 64 percent of women who have experienced violence do not tell anyone about it (UNFA,2024). Though the rate of violence has increased compared to the previous year, there has been no significant improvement in reporting violence and seeking justice, with only 3% taking legal action (Ganguly, 2020). Rape survivors frequently refuse to disclose the crime committed against them for fear of further trauma from victim blaming (Islam & Hossain, 2021). As a result, many causes of rape go unreported, providing an incentive for perpetrators to continue committing the crime.