Taqbir Huda

As we face an upsurge of Covid-19 cases, and with the national lockdown being lifted, the need to prioritise effective preventive measures has never been greater.

Today marks eight years since one of the deadliest industrial disasters in modern history killed at least 1,132 workers and injured more than 2,500 others in our own backyard.

On the afternoon of March 3, 2021, three-year-old Ruhit was playing in front of his residential building located inside the Provita Fish Feed hatchery, when he fell into a large septic tank that had been left uncovered.

In keeping with this year’s theme for International Women’s Day, I, as a legal researcher, #ChooseToChallenge how ineffectively our lawmakers have dealt with rape, one of the defining manifestations of gender inequality.

On 13 October 2020, our central law dealing with violence against women, i.e. Nari o Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain 2000 (Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000) was amended for the second time since it was enacted, by an ordinance.

On October 25, 2020, a 14-year-old girl from the Kalia village in Basail upazila, Tangail, reportedly died due to excessive genital bleeding after being admitted at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

On October 13, the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 was passed making some changes to our central law on violence against women and children.

On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court in Dhaka found three police officers guilty of custodial torture in what is the first known judgment under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013.

On Friday night, a massive explosion took place in Baitus Salah Jame Masjid in Narayanganj, killing 24 people and injuring dozens more, most of whom have sustained over 70 percent burn injuries.

On May 27, 2020, a devastating fire broke out in the corona isolation unit of United Hospital in Gulshan, which claimed the lives of five patients who were receiving treatment there.

On May 9, 2020, the president of Bangladesh sanctioned the operation of virtual courts by the judiciary by passing the Adalot Kortrik Tothyo Projukti Byabohar Odhyadesh 2020 (roughly translated as the “Use of Information and Communications Technology in Court Ordinance 2020”).

The annual celebration of the Mother’s Day brings with it the usual outpouring of love and appreciation for the primary caregivers in our families, but it also tends to bring to the fore some of the deeply ingrained conceptions (and misconceptions) about motherhood in our society.

This year’s International Women’s Day, as the ones before it, comes with a reminder that the culture of impunity for violence against women (VAW) continues to be a concern, despite there being a myriad of laws that are meant to counter VAW in our country.

Despite the frequent media reports of rape in Bangladesh, existing studies suggest that most rape survivors do not take legal action.

The recent rape incident of a second year Dhaka University student has reignited widespread public frustration on the prevailing culture of impunity for rape in our country.

Rape continues to be one of the most prevalent forms of violence against women in the world and Bangladesh is sadly no exception.

On August 19, 2019, Jamir Ullah*, a 45-year-old father of one based in Sreepur, hanged himself from a beam off the balcony of his home after being gang raped by 10 men.

Since its inception in 2017, the #MeToo Movement has been spreading across the world; it has brought to the fore the grave extent to which women from all strata of society face sexual harassment in their daily lives.

Any Bangladeshi with an iota of humanity should still have their conscience reeling over the heinous murder of Nusrat, the brave girl

On the fateful night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani army officially launched its campaign of genocide in erstwhile East Pakistan, by unleashing death squads that mercilessly killed 7,000 unarmed, innocent Bengalis in one single night.