A joint statement by AFAD and Odhikar on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2021
Violence and discrimination against women are widespread in Bangladesh. Moreover, due to rampant human rights violations such as enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, deaths in custody due to torture, majority of women from victim families face trauma, insecurity and financial difficulties. In Bangladesh, along with the repression by the authoritarian regime, women face a deep-rooted patriarchal power system. Moreover, female participation in politics in Bangladesh is hindered by reprisals, persecution, insecurity and by the violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and of expression and opinion. The draconian Digital Security Act, 2018 and other repressive laws gag voices of dissent.
AFAD and Odhikar believe that without upholding human rights and ensuring participative democracy and basic freedoms, and the scrapping of repressive laws, women’s empowerment and gender equality in Bangladesh will remain elusive.
Joint-Statement_Women’s-Day_8-March-2021 (full text in English, PDF)
