According to a recent survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 75.9% of women in the country have experienced some form of violence in their lifetime.
The rate is 76% in rural areas and 75.6% in urban areas. In terms of regional statistics, Barisal has the highest rate of female violence at 81.5%, while Sylhet has the lowest at 72.1%.
The survey report, titled "Violence Against Women Survey-2024," was jointly released by the BBS and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Thursday.
This is the third survey conducted since 2011 and 2015, providing a contemporary picture of the nature, extent, and impact of violence against women in Bangladesh.
The national rate of sexual violence against women is 29%, with Barisal having the highest rate at 35.7%.
The second-highest rate is in Chittagong, with 34.1%, followed by Khulna (29.9%), Dhaka (27.8%), Rajshahi (27.2%), Mymensingh (23%), Rangpur (26.6%), and Sylhet (28.2%).
The rates of sexual violence in urban and rural areas are almost the same, with urban areas at 31.1% and rural areas at 28%.
In the past 12 months, 9.4% of women nationwide have experienced sexual violence. Barisal has the highest rate at 13.2%, followed by Chittagong at 11.2%.
In Dhaka, 8.7% of women have faced sexual violence, 9.1% in Khulna, 7.8% in Rajshahi, 7.6% in Mymensingh, 9.1% in Rangpur, and 10.7% in Sylhet.
In urban areas, the rate of sexual violence in the past year is 10.5%, while in rural areas, it is 8.9%.
