As part of its ongoing ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign against gender-based violence, Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka conducted a handful of activities on Monday in the capital's Baridhara. The activities included tree plantation in the Baridhara Lake Park, which was followed by a special rickshaw rally. Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka executives and members joined the activities alongside the local rickshaw pullers wearing orange dresses, as a unity against violence against women and children.  Read more: Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka launches 16-days activism campaign against gender-based violence

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on governments to increase funding by 50 per cent to women’s rights organizations and movements by 2026. He said violence against women and girls is the most pervasive human rights violation in the world.  "Let’s take a stand and raise our voices in support of women’s rights. Let’s proudly declare: We are all feminists," he said in a message marking the International Day for the elimination of violence against women. Every 11 minutes, a woman or girl is killed by an intimate partner or family member — and we know that other stresses, from the COVID-19 pandemic to economic turmoil, inevitably lead to even more physical and verbal abuse, Guterres said. Read: UN chief Antonio Guterres greets people on Nowruz Women and girls also face rampant online violence, from misogynistic hate speech, to sexual harassment, image abuse and grooming by predators, he said. "This discrimination, violence and abuse targeting half of humanity comes at a steep cost. It limits women’s and girls’ participation in all walks of life, denies their basic rights and freedoms, and blocks the equal economic recovery and sustainable growth our world needs," said the UN chief. Now is the time for transformative action that ends violence against women and girls, he said. This means governments designing, funding and implementing national action plans to tackle this scourge, Guterres said. "It means involving grassroots and civil society groups at every stage of decision-making.  It means ensuring that laws are implemented and respected, so survivors see their rights to justice and support upheld. Read: “Prejudice, racism and rising hate speech”: UN chief describes world It means supporting public campaigns that challenge patriarchal norms and reject misogyny and violence," said the UN chief. "And as this year’s theme — “UNITE: Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls” — reminds us, it means standing with activists around the world who are calling for change and supporting survivors of violence," he said.

The Zonta International, a service organisation, will launch ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign from November 25 to December 10, with focus on women’s rights and ending violence against women and girls. To initiate the activism program, six Zonta Clubs in Dhaka and Chattogram will organise a rally at the Gulshan Society Lake Park on November 25, according to the press release of the organisation. Read more: Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka launches 16-day activism campaign on child marriage, gender-based violence During this period specifically, all clubs and districts are encouraged to take part in the ‘Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women’ campaign and to take local, national and international actions to influence the making and implementation of laws, as well as changing gender-based attitudes and behaviors to end violence against women and girls. Zonta International is a service organisation, with members who are professionals and are leaders in their own capacities. Zonta stands for women’s rights and advocate for gender equality, education for all and work to put an end to Child Marriage and gender-based violence, said the release. Read more: Zonta Club awards 4 women for contributions to society during pandemic This organisation believes in making the world a better place by empowering women and finds joy in doing this in a supportive community of like-minded professionals from diverse clubs and institutions, it added. Zonta International observes ‘16 Days of Activism’ every year on 25 Nov, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which concludes on 10 Dec, the International Human Rights Day.

Some 397 incidents of violence against women and children occurred in the country in March, higher than the previous month, according to a rights group.  The incidents of violence against women and children were 365 across the country in February, said Manabadhikar Shonskritik Foundation (MSF) in its monthly Human Rights Monitoring report on Thursday.  Read: Foundation stone of Bangladesh's first wind power plant laid According to  mass media reports and data collected by MSF, the number of incidents  like rape, killing and family violence has  increased compared to previous month. This is very concerning, the MSF said in its report.  Among the incidents of violence against women and children, 69 incidents of rape, 23 gang rape, three killing after rape and six physically challenged children and adolescent girls were raped.  Among the 69 rape victims, 53 were children and adolescent, while out of 23 gang rape victims, seven were adolescent.  Besides, some 96 women, including 36 children and adolescent girls committed suicide, up by 29 incidents than February.  Some 81 incidents of killing, including eight mysterious deaths occurred in March and among them 27 were children and adolescent girls. Read: Blogger Ananta killing: 4 sentenced to death According to media reports, the killings were due to revenge, family feuds, dowry, love affairs, said the report.

A total of 3703 women and girls were subjected to different forms of violence including rape and murder in 2021, according to a report of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad. Some 1235 females were raped in the last year. Of them 1028 females including 629 girls were raped, 179 females including 62 girls were gang raped and 31 females including 22 girls were killed after rape, said the report published on Monday. Bangladesh Mohila Parishad President Dr Fouzia Moslem and its General Secretary Maleka Banu presented the report at a press briefing in the city. Also read: Women suffer more violence from jobless men staying home: Webinar The organisation compiled the statistics based on the reports published in13 newspapers. According to the report, 155 females including 93 girls were subjected to rape attempt while 33 females including 14 girls were subjected to sexual assault while 95 females including 62 girl children faced sexual harassment. Besides, acid attacks were carried out on 22 women including five girls while four of them succumbed to burn injuries. The report also said that 23 females including three girl children were subjected to burn injuries and of them ten succumbed to their injuries. Meanwhile, 180 females including 153 girl children were victims of abduction while eleven others were subjected to such attempts. Forty-two females including six girl children were trafficked while 46 women, including 32 girl children were harassed at different times. The report also said 138 females including one girl child were subjected to physical torture for dowry and of them 45 were killed for dowry. As many as 208 females including 58 girl children suffered physical torture while 444 females including 114 girl children were killed for various reasons. Also read: UN voices "serious concerns" over increasing violence against women Eighty-seven women, including 19 children were subjected to murder attempt while 427 females including 131 girl children died mysteriously, said the report. A total of 121 female students including 43 girl children committed suicide while eleven attempted to commit suicide. There were incidents of 327 child marriages across the country while 63 females including 23 girl children were victims of cybercrime. There were 260 incidents of child marriages in Kishoreganj district alone while 1242 incidents of child marriage were reported from Tangail in the past one and half year.

BNP MP Harunur Rashid on Monday demanded the culprits who allegedly assaulted and attempted to rape and murder popular cinema actress Pori Moni be brought to justice. He also called for an investigation to reveal the real cause of death of college student Mosarrat Jahan Muniya, the mistress of the scion of Basundhara Group in April. Harun made his demands on the parliament floor, while participating in the discussions on two different Bills. Read: Pori Moni files sexual assault complaint against ex-Uttara Club president Nasiruddin, 5 othersThe BNP MP elected from Chapainawabganj-3 said that if the accused persons in these two cases were general people, nothing would have prevented the law from taking its course against them.Pointing to Pori Moni’s incident, Harun said the renowned actress of Bangladesh has been seeking justice for four days following her attempted rape and assault at the Uttara Boat Club led by real estate businessman Nasir U. Mahmood.“All media have published news in this regard. Is it false?” he questioned. Read: Pori Moni's plea for justice from PM causes sensationHe drew attention of Home Minister (Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal), who was not in the House at that time."Persons involved in this incident must be brought to justice,” Harun said.Actress Pori Moni yesterday revealed the identity of the perpetrators who allegedly assaulted and attempted to rape her.Pori Moni in a press conference last night claimed that Nasir U Mahmud, a former president of Uttara Club Limited, and a businessperson named Omie wanted to rape and murder her at the boat club on the Turag."They physically assaulted me and tried to kill me. Omie was also involved in the whole setup," she added.Earlier yesterday, the actress posted about the incident on her verified Facebook page at 7:53 pm."To, the honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,I am Pori Moni. An obedient citizen of this country. I am a film actor by profession. I was physically abused. I am a victim of attempted rape and murder. I demand justice."Pori Moni also said she went to Banani Police Station to lodge a complaint but they took no interest in documenting the incident.On April 26, police recovered the body of the girl hanging from the ceiling fan in her bedroom. Her legs were touching the bed and both knees were a little bent.A day after her family sued Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir over abetting her death by suicide.

A Rajshahi court on Monday sentenced a man to death for raping his stepdaughter.

London’s Metropolitan Police force was under heavy pressure Sunday to explain its actions during a vigil for a woman whom one of the force’s own officers is accused of murdering.

The U.N. health agency and its partners have found in a new study that nearly one in three women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes.

A 28-year-old man has been arrested in Khulna for allegedly recording an objectionable video of his sister-in-law and raping her multiple times by threatening to make it public,  police said Friday.