The foreign ministry on Thursday rallied ministers, lawmakers and civil society figures to advance a campaign called Dhaka Dialogue to build coordinated international responses against growing digital and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven violence against women.
A statement of the ministry said the event was staged here at Sonargaon hotel to examine legal, technical and institutional responses to the emerging threat to harass, defame and endanger women online.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam described the Dhaka Dialogue as a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that connected Bangladesh's foreign policy with the everyday safety of women online.
The Dhaka Dialogue was initiated at 10th Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa on April 20 this year, seeking to address gaps in common definitions, political attention, legal and technical capacity, evidence and international partnerships.
The Dialogue envisages developing shared language, standards and voluntary guidelines for states on prevention, investigation and remedies as well as common definitions and typologies enabling countries to report and compare cases.
It also seeks benchmarks for greater accountability of technology platforms, including transparency, labelling and establishing the provenance of synthetic media.
The statement said the initiative simultaneously aimed to keep AI-facilitated violence against women high on the international agenda through regular high-level meetings and a network of political champions involving heads of government, ministers and parliamentarians.
It said particular emphasis would be placed on strengthening the capacity of countries in the Global South to draft and review laws and train police, prosecutors and judges in handling digital evidence and AI forensics.
The initiative also envisages strengthening survivor helplines and facilitating access to tools capable of detecting and removing harmful synthetic content while safeguarding freedom of expression, privacy and minority rights.
State Minister for Social Welfare Farzana Sharmin highlighted the role of national social protection systems and survivor-support mechanisms in responding to abuse as it increasingly moves from physical spaces to digital platforms.
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman identified gaps in existing laws and evidence-gathering mechanisms that make investigating and prosecuting AI-enabled abuse difficult, particularly when manipulated images or voices are involved.
Barrister Jahrat Adib Chowdhury, MP, stressed that technology platforms should incorporate safety measures from the design stage rather than responding only after harm has occurred.
She also called for transparency surrounding synthetic media to become a baseline expectation.
Sanjida Islam, MP and founder of Mayer Daak, called for institutions that respond to survivors with confidence from the moment they report abuse and for streamlined helplines and reporting mechanisms that do not force victims to move from one office to another.
Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam moderated the session and outlined five levels at which the initiative is designed to operate.
During an open discussion, participants exchanged views on legislative gaps, accountability of technology platforms, management of synthetic content and mechanisms adopted by different countries to support survivors.
According to the statement the foreign ministry will next invite a group of interested UN member states to join as “Friends of the Dialogue”.
A technical working group will also be formed to draft the first reference document containing shared definitions and standards, which is expected to be adopted by consensus among the participating countries.
The broader initiative seeks to bring governments, UN entities, technology companies, civil society, academia and survivor networks together while encouraging AI developers and digital platforms to undertake voluntary “safety-by-design” commitments.
