A rights platform organised a march followed by cultural programmes in the city on Friday, demanding abolishing all discriminatory laws against women immediately.
Women rights activists from different walks of life joined the march from Zero Point in Gulistan area to Suhrawardy Udyan and chanted various slogans.
The International Women's Day Committee (IWDC), a platform of 50 feminist organisations and networks, also demanded abolishing all the 'anti-democratic laws' like the Digital Security Act (DSA).
The committee consists of organisations like Feminists Across Generations, Women with Disabilities Development Foundation (WDDF), Oroddho Foundation, JCI International, Safety and Rights, Shokti Network, Shroddha, SheDecides, Kotha, Creative Minds BD (CMBD), and Gonoshasthaya Kendra, according to a statement of the IWDC.
They pressed home a number of demands that included ensuring equal rights of women, elimination of religion-based family laws, amendment to all laws related to women rights in the light of the United Nations guideline, ensuring accountability of administration, and thwarting corruption at all levels.
They also called for bringing an end to male dominance through female empowerment by ensuring education and employment for them, preventing harassment of women in workstations and public places, adopting the ILO convention to safeguard women rights, and increasing the number of judges and tribunals to reduce dilly-dallying in trials under the women repression act.
The IWDC statement mentioned that the violations of human rights like freedom of speech, right to mobility, and right to raise question against the role of the country's leaders were also narrowing the scopes of women rights.
"Anti-democratic laws, such as the DSA, do not help create safety for women and gender diverse people, as we saw in Noakhali last year. In that case, the men with political affiliation voluntarily spread a video of sexual assault to intimidate the survivor."
"We know this repressive environment will lead to shrinking spaces, where we can question the culture around us - a culture of gender-based violence that imposes rigid archaic gender norms, encourages misogynistic attitudes, and imposes strict rules and restrictions on women's mobility and their right to choice," it added.
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