For Mirah (not her real name), her home was not her sanctuary. The monsters she could avoid in the wider world, she could not escape in her own home.
It started with a few covert touches, but little did Mirah know her uncle's advances would turn into regular sexual abuse.
When it eventually happened, she was too young to understand why her uncle was acting "weird."
But there was no escape. Her uncle, being the most "talented" student in the family, would often be asked by her parents to help Mirah with her studies.
Shame, helplessness and rage consumed little Mirah's mind. Unable to bear it anymore, at one point she decided to tell her aunt everything, hoping someone would step up and put an end to the nightmare.
Nothing happened. Her aunt bought Mirah a gift and convinced her mother not to reveal anything. To her horror, within a month, Mirah was sent back to her uncle to help her do "schoolwork."
"It broke me in so many ways," Mirah said, as she recounted the experiences of her 11-year-old self. "It broke my confidence and my trust in people I looked up to. I was convinced there was no one in the world I could turn to."
It is not just the abuser who should be held accountable, she said. "All those I had turned to, and who decided to look the other way, have a part to play in my abuse."
For a long time since then, she was trapped in a spiral of shame.
"What angers me is that this man is now a respected member of society, and holds a good job," Mirah said. "Nobody wants to admit a person like him can be a sexual predator."
She raised the horrific question: "Are his daughters safe with him?"
Mirah's case is one among countless other child sexual abuse incidents that go unreported in Bangladesh.
Where will the children go?
According to a report released by humanitarian organization, Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), 47 female children were raped, sexually harassed, or assaulted between April 2 and April 16: hardly two weeks!
Bangladesh Child Rights Forum said this year, till March a total of 211 children have fallen victim to sexual harassment, of whom 164 were raped.
Last year, a survey conducted by Child Parliament, on 513 children in 64 districts, showed 87% of children were victims of sexual abuse.
The gravity of sexual abuse against children remains understated, as most cases go unreported due to social stigma.
Irin Pervin Tamanna, psycho-social counselor of child rights organization, Breaking the Silence (BTS), said most victims are unwilling to share their experiences with anyone, as it becomes too much for them to process at such a young age.
In most cases, children end up expressing their trauma by skipping classes, throwing tantrums, or becoming isolated.
"I have dealt with many cases where parents did not have any idea of their child being abused," Tamanna said. "Parents usually bring their child for counseling because they think their child has some kind of a behavioural problem."
Street children are more vulnerable to sexual abuse, but when asked, most of them are unable to differentiate between physical and sexual abuse, Tamanna said.
There is no quick fix for dealing with such situations, she said.
"If parents find out their children are being sexually abused, they need to handle it with the utmost care," Tamanna continued. "If a child becomes overtly introverted, parents should not force them to go out and socialize. They should accept the changes in their behaviour, one step at a time."
Another 2018 survey of 364 children age 15 to 18, conducted by Child’s Rights Advocacy Qualification in Bangladesh, found that 48.6% of them became victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).
Girls experienced and reported more SGBV compared to boys. A total of 19.9% girls reported SGBV, in contrast to 7.7% of boys.
But sexual abuse of male children mostly goes unreported. Our society dictates boys remain silent about any abuse or harassment, in fear of being shamed.
Abdullah Al Mamun, director of Child Rights Governance and Child Protection, of Save the Children, said: "From a young age, boys are taught to hide their vulnerability and be more "masculine," which makes them unwilling to report their abuse.
"This is a crucial issue we need to focus on, in dealing with sexual abuse cases," he said.
Mamun advised not leaving children from lower-income families unattended, as most perpetrators are always looking for opportunities to abuse a child when nobody is around.
He recommended setting up daycare centres within the community.
"They do not need to rent a place and hire people to take care of children," he said. "Instead, it can be set up in somebody's place, and people from the community can take turns to look after the children."
The government has a hot line number to report cases of children and women abuse . People can report incidents of child abuse cases by calling 109.
