ED: A threat to women everywhere

Domestic violence and gender-based violence against women remains a serious problem in Bangladesh. Of that, there is no doubt. It is also true that, over the years, numerous organizations have worked tirelessly to try and fight this issue, with varying levels of success.

However, all of the good work done by such organizations is being threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic, with domestic violence against women sharply rising during this period.

The rise in domestic violence against women during the pandemic is a sad global phenomenon, with numerous countries having reported the same. However, it is imperative to not only identify the root causes of this increase in violence, and also devise strategies to better protect women.

This was the basis of a recently organized webinar jointly held by Bangladesh Organization for Learning and Development (BOLD) and Women Empowering Women (WEW). Such knowledge-sharing events are increasingly important -- in the midst of this pandemic, we must keep in mind the horrors that women are facing on a daily basis.

Building awareness amongst the people of Bangladesh remains one of the key challenges identified, where it must be stressed upon again and again that violence against women is absolutely unacceptable.

Moreover, all sectors need to play a more active role in the prevention of domestic violence, whether that be the law enforcement providing rapid action and response to any cases that arise, to the health sector by helping to identify abuse along with providing victims with the necessary treatment and referring women to appropriate care.

Ultimately, we cannot let Covid-19 undo the progress we have made in fighting domestic violence.