About 810 women and girls were raped across the country in 2021, showed a survey by the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP).
Besides, 225 women and girls were victims of gang rape, 192 faced attempt to rape, 96 faced sexual harassment, and 114 were cases of dowry.
Housewives were more victimised than working women. About 83 per cent of the dowry victims and 36 per cent of the rape victims were housewives. Besides, the rate was 37 per cent for gang rape, 17 per cent for molestation, and 46 per cent for attempted rape.
The latest findings of the survey - 'Violence of Women and Girls in Bangladesh 2021: Rape, Gang Rape, Attempted Rape, Sexual Harassment and Dowry' - were disclosed in a press conference on Wednesday.
The BMP organised the programme, presided over by its president Dr Fauzia Moslem, at its office in the city.
The results of the survey showed that like previous years, the number of rape-victim women and girls increased in 2021.
The girls were more victims of rape than women. About 18 per cent, 11 per cent, and 31 per cent of the girls aged 14-18 years were victims of rape, attempted rape, and gang rape respectively.
The children aged 10-13 years accounted for 22 per cent of the cases of molestation and sexual harassment.
The women aged between 18-22 years were generally more subjected to violence in terms of dowry, and its rate was 22 per cent.
Among the girls, the students of 6th-10th grades were more victims of sexual abuse. The rate was 45 per cent for rape, 52 per cent for gang rape, and 67 per cent for harassment.
The study refers to those under 18 years as girls, and those above 18 years as women.
According to the survey, children were mostly abused by people they knew, especially close relatives and neighbours.
It was noteworthy that the involvement of young people in the cases of rape was high. Nearly 26 per cent of the accused were aged between 11 and 30 years.
On the other hand, in terms of bullying and sexual harassment and attempted rape, women and girls were the most victimised by teachers, at 17 and 13 per cent respectively.
The press conference also informed that women were most insecure and at risk in their homes. The root cause of violence against women and girls was the subordinate attitude and social attitude towards women.
Dr Fauzia Moslem said the BMP conducts various types of research. This survey was conducted based on the news published in 12 national dailies of the country, taking into account five areas of violence against women and girls: dowry, teasing and sexual harassment, rape, gang rape, and attempted rape.
From this research, an attempt has been made to perceive the pattern of violence against women or which type of crime is more prevalent.
Once there was more domestic violence, but now incidents of rape and gang rape increased. This indicates that women are more victims of violence in the social sphere, the BMP president noted.
She also pointed out that the specific data obtained from such surveys would help a lot in the advocacy work of the women's movement.
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