Nilima Jahan

They were readers of fairy tales, keepers of marbles, chasers of kites across twilight skies. Some still asked to sleep in their mother’s arms. Others, on the cusp of adolescence, had just begun to dream in the language of futures -- of stethoscopes, classrooms, galaxies. They were children, dreamers of careers, cartoons, and cricket.

More than seven months after the resignation of its chairperson and members, Bangladesh’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) remains leaderless, powerless, and largely ineffective.

Despite ongoing challenges for women in employment, education, health, and safety, the national budget for fiscal year 2025–26 has seen a reduction in allocations for promoting gender equality and women’s development.

Rights activists warn that this rollback threatens to reverse progress and stall efforts toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In a historic move, Bangladesh’s national budget has, for the first time, pledged institutional recognition for women’s unpaid and unacknowledged caregiving and household work.

Even as pregnancies rise across the country, fewer women are turning to government health facilities, the most accessible and affordable source of care, for help during and after childbirth.

Three years ago, when 12-year-old Ayesha Begum got her first period, she thought she was dying.

Between January and April this year, 87.56 percent of reported rape victims with known ages were children

For 36-year-old homemaker Tania Akter, falling ill meant anxiety over costly treatment and unreliable healthcare.

On a day meant for celebration, three mothers remember the sons they lost during the uprising

Lamia, a 18-year-old girl and the eldest daughter of a July martyr, vowed to rebuild her family’s life for her grieving mother. Following the death of her father, she would often say, “We will stand again, Ma. I will take care of everything.”

The Women’s Affairs Reforms Commission has proposed a series of comprehensive reforms to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women embedded in the country’s laws, constitution, policies, and institutions.

Female activists leading the recent anti-rape protests and the July uprising are enduring continuous intimidation and harassment, both online and offline.

Yasmin represents the millions of women excluded from the labour force, who say that family and household work is a significant setback to their employment.

There was a time when doctors told her there was no cure. A time when the world seemed to close in, whispering that this might be the end. But she refused to listen. She chose to fight -- not just with fists and footwork, but with the unyielding will of a warrior.

While International Women’s Day is a global celebration of women’s rights, equality, and empowerment, the statistics from Bangladesh on violence against women paint a troubling and stark reality.

Women in Bangladesh are three times more likely to be physically abused and over 14 times more likely to suffer sexual violence from their husbands than from others, according to a Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics survey on violence against women.

Students across the country took to the streets yesterday, outraged by the “government’s inaction” amid a series of incidents of rape and sexual violence against children in recent days.

The Bangla Academy has apologised for shutting booths selling sanitary napkins at Amar Ekushey Boi Mela allegedly because of complaints from religious groups.

Tanisha Yasmin Chaity from Rajbari never let her identity as a hijra limit her aspirations.