As reported in the 2024 EUAA COI report Bangladesh Country Focus, sources described Bangladesh as a ‘patriarchal society’993 with norms ‘undervaluing women’s rights and capabilities’, dictating men as the ‘primary decision makers and bread winners’, and women as having subordinate roles.994 Sources further described a social stigma surrounding sexual abuse and gender-based violence.995
In Bangladesh, misogyny has become ‘more visible’, particularly after 5 August 2024 according to Dr Fauzia Moslem, President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, a non-governmental organisation, committed to women’s rights in Bangladesh.996 Women have been harassed and attacked by men in public, including for not wearing a veil997 smoking,998 or wearing ‘inappropriate clothing’999 under the guise of ‘moral policing.’1000
Meanwhile, Islamic conservative forces have gained ground after the fall of the former government.1001 In May 2025, the group Hefazat-e-Islam opposed the government’s proposals that include equal inheritance rights for women, a ban on polygamy, and recognition of sex workers as labourers. In support of Hefazat-e-Islam, 20 000 people protested against the proposal.1002
Female-headed households have increased during the last decade, reaching 17.4 % of the population according to the latest national census from 2022.1003 Households run by women have predominantly been among the poorest households.1004 Based on the findings from the 2022 census, 5.6 % of female-headed households lived below the extreme poverty line, while 14.1 % of female-headed households lived below the median poverty line.1005 The absence of male heads reportedly leads to increased vulnerability for women and their dependants, since women in general have a limited decision-making authority and deteriorated position in society. Some rural women heads of household were reportedly harassed and abused when engaging in agricultural activities, which is perceived as a ‘male task.’1006 UN Women reported on the unrest following the fall of the former government disrupting access to essential services, such as sexual and reproductive health, general healthcare, water, sanitation, and hygiene services, disproportionally impacting inter alia female-headed households.1007
- 993
OMCT, Women break the silence gender-based torture in Asia, 5 May 2022, url, p. 112
- 994
UNDP, Over 99 percent of Bangladeshis hold at least one bias against women, 19 September 2023, url
- 995
UNDP, Gender-based violence: taking stock of Bangladesh’s shadow pandemic, 10 April 2022, url; UN Women, Ending violence against women, June 2023, url, p. 1; Sultan, M. and Mahpara, P., Backlash in Action? Or Inaction? Stalled Implementation of the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010 in Bangladesh, IDS, 2023, url, p. 14
- 996
Daily Star (The), Cultural interventions required to reform deep-rooted patriarchal norms, 27 February 2025, url
- 997
France24, Bangladeshi women alarmed by emboldened Islamists, 15 March 2025, url; Daily Star (The), Harassment of women in public spaces on rise, 8 October 2024, url
- 998
New Age, 2 women attacked over smoking at Lalmatia, 3 March 2025, url; Daily Star (The), International Women's Day: The grim truth behind the Lalmatia GBV case, 8 March 2025, url
- 999
Business Standard (The), Minor girls beaten in Munshiganj launch: Beat them to discipline them as elder brother, assaulter says, 10 May 2025, url; Dhaka Tribune, Is moral policing just an excuse for violence against women?, 11 May 2025, url
- 1000
Dhaka Tribune, Is moral policing just an excuse for violence against women?, 11 May 2025, url; Daily Star (The), International Women's Day: The grim truth behind the Lalmatia GBV case, 8 March 2025, url
- 1001
HRW, Bangladeshi Women’s Rights Opposed by Hardline Religious Groups, 5 May 2025, url; France24, Bangladeshi women alarmed by emboldened Islamists, 15 March 2025, url
- 1002
DW, Bangladeshi Islamists protest women's rights proposal, 3 May 2025, url
- 1003
Daily Star (The), Female-headed households rise to a decade high, 13 February 2024, url
- 1004
Daily Star (The), Female-headed households rise to a decade high, 13 February 2024, url;Mahbub, S., Female Headed Household in Bangladesh: An Alternative Approach to Attain Food Security, International Journal of Social Science Research and Review, 2023, url, pp. 339–340
- 1005
Daily Star (The), Female-headed households rise to a decade high, 13 February 2024, url
- 1006
Islam, M. S. et al., Rethinking women empowerment in rural Bangladesh: Male out-migration, left-behind wives, and changing gender roles, Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 20 March 2025, url
- 1007
UN Women, Gender Analysis Bangladesh (July – December 2024), Impact of the civil unrest on women and marginalized groups, 11 March 2025, url, p. 9