The government should strengthen protection for minority women against cyber harassment and discrimination and move ahead with legal reforms to ensure their rights, speakers said at a seminar in Dhaka yesterday.
They said minority women face “double marginalisation” because of both their gender in a patriarchal society and their identity, while also facing cyber harassment, threats and intimidation.
The Bangladesh Mahila Oikya Parishad organised the seminar, titled “Women’s Rights and Safety: Bangladesh Perspective”, at the Jatiya Press Club.
Presenting the keynote paper, Sumana Gupta, assistant professor of English at Jahangirnagar University, said minority women face social media harassment, including threats, manipulated images, false information and attacks targeting their religious identity.
She called for a specialised system to receive complaints and take prompt action against cyber harassment and online communal incitement.
The keynote paper also recommended separately documenting violence against women and girls, making police and local administrations more responsive to complaints, and providing specialised training to officials handling such cases.
Former Supreme Court justice Krishna Debnath said reforms concerning Hindu women’s rights could no longer be delayed and urged organisers to prepare concrete proposals for legal reform, particularly on divorce and second marriage.
Subrata Chowdhury, senior advocate of the SC, said efforts to reform Hindu family laws had faced resistance for decades.
“This is not only about women’s demands or women’s rights. I consider it a social demand,” he said.
Shubhashish Biswas, general secretary of the Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee, Gopal Debnath, president of the Mahanagar Puja Committee, Nirmal Rozario, president of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, and Basudeb Dhar, president of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, also spoke.
Source-Daily Star
