January–August: A Grim Picture of Violence Against Women and Children in Bangladesh

Special Correspondent

(Based on data for the period January–August 2026, Source: Ain O Salish Kendra – ASK)

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Violence against women and children in Bangladesh is no longer an isolated incident—it is an ongoing, structural humanitarian crisis. Newspaper-based statistics for the eight months from January to August 2026, compiled by the Documentation Unit of the Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), paint a grim picture of the insecurity of women and children in the country. The data, compiled based on reports from the country’s major media outlets, including Prothom Alo, Ittefaq, Samakal, Sangbad, Janakantha, Jugantor, Naya Diganta, Daily Star, New Age, Dhaka Tribune, show that in just eight months, more than a thousand women and children were victims of rape, murder, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and suicide.

 

Rape: An everyday reality

In eight months, 453 women and girls were victims of rape and gang rape, including:

• General rape: 339 people
• Gang rape: 114 people
• Victims of attempted rape: 167 people
• Deaths after rape: 41 people
• Deaths after attempted rape: 3 people
• Suicide due to rape: 2 people

Worryingly, a large proportion of victims are children and adolescents—girls aged 6 to 18 years old account for a large proportion of all rapes. Nearly 21 percent (97) of attempted rapes have not yet been prosecuted, highlighting the institutional failure to bring them to justice.

Violence against women in the family

The family—which should theoretically be the safest place—has in reality become a death trap for countless women. A total of 284 women have been victims of domestic violence in eight months:

• Killed by husband: 108 people
• Killed by husband’s family: 28 people
• Killed by their own family: 36 people
• Abused by husband: 22 people
• Suicide due to torture: 76 people

This means that on average, more than one woman is murdered by her husband every 3 days. Out of 284 incidents, only 119 cases were reported; in the remaining 161 cases, there is no information about legal remedies.

Sexual harassment by stalkers

The social disease known as “event teasing” is still prevalent in its most horrific form. In eight months, 176 people have been victims of it, 128 of whom are women:

• Assaulted/affected by stalkers: 120 people
• Injured: 44 people
• 7 people killed while protesting
• Deaths after sexual harassment: 2 people
• Suicide: 3 people

These statistics show that even protesting now carries a risk to life—7 people have been killed just for protesting.

Violence against children: The most heartbreaking chapter

The overall picture of violence against children is most worrying. In eight months, 709 children were victims of various forms of violence:

• Rape: 277 people
• Attempted rape: 139 people
• Sexual harassment by madrasa muhtaram/teacher: 38 people
• Physical abuse by madrasa headman/teacher: 53 people
• Sexual harassment by stalkers: 46 people
• Physical abuse: 35 people
• Kidnapped: 7 people
• Attempted smuggling: 2 people

Rape and attempted rape alone have affected 416 children—about 59 percent of all violence against children. Even in schools, where children are supposed to feel safe, hundreds of children are being abused and sexually harassed by teachers.

Child Murder: The Ultimate Price

The most tragic chapter is the statistics of infanticide. In eight months, 254 children lost their lives in various ways:

• Deaths after physical abuse: 68 people
• Deaths due to domestic violence: 49 people
• Deaths after rape: 24 people
• Suicide: 30 people
• Bodies recovered after going missing: 36 people
• Bodies recovered in unidentified condition: 23 people
• Mysterious death of domestic worker’s child: 4 people

Of the 254 child deaths, only 81 were reported to have been prosecuted—meaning that no legal accountability was established for two out of every three child murders.

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The Big Picture: The Reality Behind the Numbers

Taken together, these six reports show that in the first eight months of 2026, at least 1,800 women and children in Bangladesh were victims of various forms of violence, torture, rape or murder—an average of about 7-8 people per day. And this is just the number of incidents reported in the media; the real picture is undoubtedly more horrific, as numerous incidents never come under the media or the law due to social shame, fear, apathy and institutional distrust.

Three things make clear the structural nature of this crisis:

1. The family is not safe : The vast majority of violence against women and children occurs at the hands of family, husbands, or close relatives—meaning the source of violence is often within the home.

2. Culture of impunity : Every report shows that the rate of filing cases is much lower than the number of incidents—42% for violence against women, only 32% for infanticide. This impunity is creating an environment of impunity for criminals.

3. Children are the most vulnerable : Children and adolescents are the victims of a large proportion of all violence, which proves that institutional structures of protection (family, school, society) are effectively failing.

 

Numbers are not just statistics—behind each number is a person’s name, a family, a shattered life. This document from ASK proves that the safety of women and children in Bangladesh today is not an isolated problem, but a national humanitarian crisis, which requires immediate and coordinated action at all three levels—the state, society, and the family. Otherwise, more women and children will continue to fall victim to this silent crisis every da