The cost of being a woman: Reflections on International Women’s Day

It was January 2020, and I had just become a student at Dhaka University (DU) in the Department of Political Science, which felt ironic because I had never thought of myself as a political person. I remember thinking, quite sincerely, “Do I really want to be a political scientist?” It sounded exhausting. I could not quite rationalise spending years analysing power, ideology, and institutions when the only thing I was certain about was that I could write. So, I switched to Journalism. Writing felt honest, and politics felt like something other people did.

As soon as I decided that I was not cut out to be a political person, something jarring happened. A student from DU was raped in Kurmitola. I watched as more than a hundred students gathered to protest, demanding justice. The rapist later confessed. After that, the news cycle moved on, as it does, because there were newer cases, newer names, and newer girls.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, I realised something inconvenient. You do not get to opt out of politics if you are a woman. To exist as a woman is to carry politics in every step, every breath.

On International Women's Day, we continue to march in rallies and pen impassioned columns until our voices grow hoarse, and rightly so, for the struggle must persist until the promise of genuine emancipation for women is no longer an aspiration.

Hence, I must be critical. If you read enough political communication literature, you begin to notice how the mediatisation of politics turns women’s safety and rights into very convenient buzzwords during elections. Pick up the manifestos of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, or National Citizen Party (NCP), and you will see that the safety of women is right there at the front. It sounds reassuring.

If one turns to the manifesto of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which now forms the government, it states, "Strict legal measures to end gender-based and online violence, hatred, and bullying: End gender-based violence and discrimination against women. Increase awareness to stop digital/online violence, hatred, and bullying, and take effective legal and administrative steps to stop women's online harassment."

Where, exactly, is the reflection? Let’s take a look at what the last few days have looked like across the country.

On February 24, a student of Jahangirnagar University (JU) was allegedly taken to a house in the Islamnagar area by a former student. Reports say she was tied up, beaten, and scalded with boiling water before being raped. It is difficult to read a sentence like that and move on with your day.

On February 25, a teenage girl was abducted in the Madhabdi area of Narsingdi. The next day, her body was found in a mustard field in Mahishasura Union. Two weeks before, she was gang-raped. At the time of writing, the stepfather, with whom she was walking, has been arrested. He has confessed to the court under Section 164, admitting responsibility for killing the girl. It is the kind of news you read in the morning and wish you had not.

Then, on February 28, the bodies of a 65-year-old woman and her 15-year-old granddaughter were recovered from a house and a nearby field in Pabna’s Ishwardi.

Earlier this month, a seven-year-old child was found critically injured at Sitakunda Eco Park in Chattogram. She later died. Another seven-year-old was raped by a relative in Jashore. And in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhiya Upazila, a woman was raped and killed.

The truth is, these six stories are only the ones sitting at the top of my head, the ones still circulating because the news cycle has not yet had the chance to replace them with newer horrors. That is how these things work. There is always another case waiting in line to become tomorrow’s headline. What is harder to find is a voice of assurance from the government that once promised women safety and dignity in its campaign language. The manifesto sounded confident, and the words were strong. But the lack of response now feels curiously numb. And that silence cannot help but disappoint. Because if politics has taught us anything, it is that women are frequently remembered before elections and forgotten shortly after the votes have been counted.

This isn't to say that arrests aren't being made. Law enforcement has been arresting the perpetrators. But what is concerning is the conviction rate in crimes against women. Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals currently have over 10 lakh cases waiting, including over 10,000 rape cases that have been unsolved for more than five years. This shows that the arrests do not amount to much in the grand scheme of things because the problem is inherently systematic, something that the government must act on immediately.

Coincidentally, this year’s theme for International Women's Day is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”. Three very serious words, impressive even with so few syllables. Yet, when you look around at the condition of women in Bangladesh today, those words feel more like an aspiration printed on a poster. And so, as someone young, and perhaps more importantly as a woman, I feel a stubborn obligation to keep writing and protesting these brutalities.

As young people, we carry both the energy and the responsibility to demand change. As women, we shoulder the responsibility of histories that too often dismiss our lives and our voices. International Women’s Day reminds us that words alone are not enough. Rights, justice, action—these must mean something in the streets, in our homes, and in the everyday choices that allow us to exist without fear. If the government will not act, we must. If society does not listen, we must speak. Today, the fight is ours to carry, to write, to live, and to insist that women matter everywhere.

References:

1. The Daily Star (November 19, 2020). Rape of DU student in Kurmitola: Lone accused gets life term imprisonment.

2. The Daily Star (March 2, 2026). Students protest admin inaction in rape case.

3. The Daily Star (February 27, 2026). Teenager ‘abducted’, murdered in Narsingdi.

4. The Daily Star (February 28, 2026). Elderly woman, teenage granddaughter found murdered in Pabna.

5. The Daily Star (March 4, 2026). Sitakunda murder case: 7yr-old victim dies in hospital; neighbour held.

6. The Daily Star (March 4, 2026). Man arrested for raping 7-year-old girl in Jashore.

7. The Daily Star (March 4, 2026). Mother of 2 found dead in Cox’s Bazar.

8. Prothom Alo (March 7, 2026). Stepfather arrested in Narsingdi rape, kidnapping, and murder case

9. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (2026) BNP's Election Manifesto 2026.

10. United Nations (2026). Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls.