October 14, 2025
DHAKA – Over half of Bangladeshi women do not know where to report incidents of violence, according to a 2024 survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on violence against women.
Only 48.5 percent of the respondents knew where or how to report incidents, with the police being the most recognised authority.
The survey, launched at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre, was based on interviews with 27,476 women aged 15 and above nationwide. It is the third national study of its kind, following earlier rounds in 2011 and 2015.
The findings capture trends over the past decade, showing how violence continues to affect women in every social group, including those in slums, disaster-prone areas, and women with disabilities.
Awareness of specialised support services remains alarmingly low — only 2.2 percent of women had heard of One-Stop Crisis Centres.
Despite years of awareness campaigns, knowledge of the government’s national helpline 109 remains limited. Women who had experienced physical or sexual violence were less aware of the helpline (9.3 percent) than those who had not (15.7 percent).
Awareness was lowest among divorced, separated, and widowed women — just 3.3 percent — exposing a serious information gap among the most vulnerable. Many survivors said they only learned about available support services after years of abuse.
This lack of awareness exists alongside a staggering level of violence.
Three in every four women (76 percent) have experienced some form of intimate partner violence at some point in their lives, and nearly half (49 percent) within the past year.
Meanwhile, 8.3 percent of women experienced some forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence related to sexual blackmail, image-based abuse, and controlling behaviours. This is the first time technology-facilitated gender-based violence was included in the survey.
At the same time, a culture of silence continues to dominate. Two in three women (64 percent) never shared their experience with anyone. Among those who did, parents (78.8 percent) were most often told, followed by in-laws (35.2 percent) and siblings (32.8 percent).
When survivors sought help, most turned to local leaders (58.4 percent), showing preference for community-level resolution over formal systems. Only 36.2 percent approached the police, and 15 percent went to the courts.
The main reasons for not reporting included the normalisation of violence (38.8 percent), along with fear of losing family honour and fear of public disgrace — barriers that continue to keep women silent.
Only 14.5 percent of women sought medical treatment after violence in the past year. Among them, 93 percent sought help for physical injuries, while 15.5 percent addressed emotional trauma.
The financial toll is severe. On average, survivors spent Tk 2,512 on medical treatment — higher in rural areas (Tk 2,672) — and Tk 4,104 on legal expenses, with urban survivors paying slightly more (Tk 4,341). Combined, the average out-of-pocket cost stood at Tk 2,676, rising to Tk 2,878 in rural areas.
MOST VICTIMS ABUSED BY HUSBANDS
In the survey, “intimate partners” refer to current or former husbands, while “non-partners” include anyone else. It confirmed that husbands remain the main perpetrators of violence against women.
Controlling behaviour was the most common form of intimate partner violence, affecting 68 percent of women, followed by physical violence (47 percent), emotional violence (37 percent), and sexual violence (29 percent).
Women were three times more likely to be physically abused and over 13 times more likely to suffer sexual violence from their husbands than from any other person.
Physical violence is often repeated, with 29.4 percent of women experiencing it six or more times. About 26 percent reported being forced into sex by their husbands, and over half (55.9 percent) of these survivors said such assaults occurred repeatedly.
Even during pregnancy, 7 percent of women reported physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, and 4 percent in the past 12 months.
The survey found married adolescent girls aged 15–19 years face the highest risk of violence, accounting for 62 percent of all intimate partner violence survivors in the past year.
Women living in city corporations were 35 percent more likely — and those in slums 47 percent more likely — to face violence compared to women in rural regions.
Regional variations were stark. Khulna recorded the highest physical violence (57.2 percent), while Sylhet had the lowest (33.5 percent). For sexual violence, Barishal topped the list at 36 percent, while Mymensingh had the lowest rate (23 percent).
The survey also identified risk factors. Husbands’ extramarital relationships increased the likelihood of violence by 2.3 times, drug addiction by 1.7 times, and marriages involving dowry by 1.8 times.
On the other hand, education acted as protection. Women whose husbands completed secondary school faced a 17 percent lower risk, while those with university-educated partners faced a 32 percent lower risk.
Divorced, separated, or widowed women were 92 percent less likely to experience violence than those living with their husbands, while women married more than once faced a 42 percent higher likelihood.
Economically, women earning cash income were 28 percent more likely to face partner violence — a possible backlash against shifting gender roles.
NON-PARTNER VIOLENCE
Outside marriage, mothers-in-law (35 percent), mothers (20.5 percent), brothers- or sisters-in-law (29 percent), and other male family members (34 percent) were the most frequent perpetrators of physical violence.
Most non-partner sexual violence was committed by male relatives, friends, or acquaintances. More than half of women with disabilities reported non-partner violence, while 44.5 percent of survivors of non-partner physical violence were harmed by more than one perpetrator.
Rajshahi, Chattogram, Rangpur, Dhaka, and Khulna reported higher levels of non-partner violence compared to Mymensingh.
Despite the prevalence, only 3.8 percent of survivors took legal action in the past year, while arbitration was the most common type of action taken (48.3 percent).
The survey recommended reforming discriminatory laws, strengthening the legal framework for technology-facilitated gender-based violence, ensuring sustainable financing, reinforcing accountability to international commitments, institutionalising Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse standards, and promoting gender-sensitive media narratives.
During the unveiling of the survey, BBS Director General Mohammed Mizanur Rahman said, “This is the most comprehensive survey of its kind in Bangladesh. It provides robust evidence on the prevalence, causes, and impacts of violence — evidence that must guide stronger prevention, protection, and justice systems.”
The survey also calls for urgent investment in prevention programmes, expanded services, and gender-sensitive policies to build a society where every woman and girl can live free from fear, harm, and silence.
UNFPA Representative in Bangladesh Catherine Breen Kamkong said, “The evidence is conclusive: violence against women remains a widespread human rights crisis in Bangladesh. Behind these statistics are thousands of women who bravely shared their stories. This report must mark the beginning of transformative action to prevent violence, strengthen services, and ensure justice for survivors.”
The unveiling was followed by a panel discussion featuring Shireen Huq, head of the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission; Dr Shoeb Reaz Alam, deputy inspector general of the Special Security and Protection Battalion; and Dr Sanzida Akhter, professor of Women and Gender Studies at Dhaka University.
GRAPHICS: THE DAILY STAR