When will women be safe?

Over the past few months, there has been a spat of violence against women, including harassment and rape. According to Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation, 42 women and children were raped in January this year; the number rose to 57 in February. For many years, women’s safety in Bangladesh has been a growing concern, and yet the solutions seem far out of reach. So, when will women be safe?

From March 6 to March 8 this year, Mongol Deep Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to social development through the arts, launched a campaign to gather public opinion on women’s safety. The social media campaign started on their official Facebook page, posting three thought-provoking questions. The first question was: “when will women be safe?” The options given were: when she stays at home; when she covers; when men change; and never. The second question was: “what can women do to keep themselves safe?” The options were: remain at home after evening; always keep pepper spray or pocketknife; learn self-defence like karate/martial arts; and demand to keep men indoors. The last question was: “were you ever sexually harassed?” Here, the options were: yes; no; and don’t want to answer.

This campaign aimed to gather elicited responses along the lines of what would make women and girls feel safe. We chose social media as the platform because the cyber world often acts as a parallel reality, where people express their opinions more freely than they would in person. Here, intrusive thoughts turn into public statements without hesitation. What we got was a predominantly male perspective filled with protectionist rhetoric. The posts reached thousands across Bangladesh, and 1,674 men and women engaged. What was surprising, though, was that most of the comments came from men—males who felt entitled to dictate the terms of women’s safety. The responses painted a bleak and unsettling picture of how deeply ingrained misogyny is in our society.

A staggering 23.4 percent (393 individuals) claimed that women are unsafe because they don’t “cover up,” and of these commenters, 89 percent were men. Meanwhile, the other seven percent (129 individuals) took it further, explicitly blaming revealing clothing for sexual harassment and assault. The message is clear: women’s bodies are the problem, not the men who harass, assault or rape them. Another 186 individuals insisted that women’s safety could only be ensured through Shariah law or by making Bangladesh an Islamic state. Among them, only 11.3 percent were women. Eighteen men suggested a return to the caliphate system as a solution. These responses imply that women’s safety is conditional. Although men are instructed to lower their gazes as well, the responses here clearly highlight how certain religious interpretations are often misused to justify blame on women’s clothing.

A silver lining was to find 10.5 percent (176 individuals) of the total commenters offering civic solutions to ensure women’s safety. Their suggestions were among the basic measures that should already be in place, like stricter laws, proper enforcement, and women’s financial independence. But in a sea of victim-blaming, these reasonable voices were drowned out.

In light of the recent attack on two women for smoking in public, it wasn’t shocking to find 34 individuals (all men) claim that women smoking in public is the reason the entire female population is unsafe. The idea that a woman’s safety is determined by whether she smokes, whereas the habit is equally harmful for all genders, is just another excuse to control and punish women for existing in public spaces. This adds to the critique of how women are unfairly blamed for their own lack of safety in situations where men face no such concerns. Perhaps the most horrifying revelation was that 25 men openly stated that some women don’t deserve to be safe at all. Their reasoning? Women who “freely mix” with men, work outside home, travel at night, or break the so-called societal norms should expect to be assaulted.

On the other hand, 149 frustrated individuals, 75 percent of whom are women, said women will never be safe in Bangladesh. Their responses didn’t just express fear, they expressed resignation. These respondents don’t believe change will come because our society will never evolve, and law enforcement will remain weak. This is not pessimism; this is their lived reality.

While this campaign provided valuable insights, it also had limitations. Social media engagement does not represent the entire population, and those who chose to comment were likely individuals with strong opinions, whether in support of or against women’s rights. Additionally, the format of the questions may have influenced responses, as multiple-choice options can sometimes oversimplify complex issues. Despite these limitations, the sheer volume of engagement and the nature of the responses highlight a troubling reality that cannot be ignored.

The responses to this campaign are not limited to Facebook. They are reflections of our streets, our homes, and our workplaces. They show us that many still see women’s safety as conditional, dependent on how much they conform to patriarchal norms, how much they cover up, and how much they give up their freedom. The streets remain unsafe, the laws are inadequately enforced, and societal attitudes continue to facilitate this crisis.

So, coming back to the original question: when will women be safe? If this campaign has shown us anything, the answer is probably: not anytime soon.

Fauzia Ibrahim is programme manager at Mongol Deep Foundation.

Views expressed in this article are the author’s own.