In Bangladesh, the reports of harassment and assault of women have become all too common.
To such an extent has this become a problem that we cannot sit back, bury our heads in the sand, and continue to deem these as isolated incidents.
The hacking of Khadiza, who now lies in hospital fighting for her life should have been our wake-up call, though it was not the first of such recent incidents.
But even before Khadiza, there was the tragic case of Risha, 14, who was stabbed and subsequently died. There was also Nitu, an eighth grader, who was hacked to death. There was Rani, a 12-year-old, also stabbed.
On Wednesday, four more girls were stabbed or hacked in separate incidents. And on Thursday, a 32-year-old imam was jailed for repeatedly harassing a school-girl for marriage.
Almost all of these incidents came at the hands of male stalkers who were unable to grasp the fact that no means no.
The frequency with which these sorts of incidents continue to take place serves as a poor reflection of our society.
It is high time that Bangladeshi society takes a long, hard look at itself. There is only so much the authorities can do when there are people in our society who do not understand that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable, and continue to blame the victim for these crimes.
This pervasive attitude is retrograde, shameful, and unacceptable.
Savagery of this kind would not persist if there was not so much impunity afforded to perpetrators of sexual harassment, and the subsequent stigma attached to the victims.
This is the kind of thinking that must be rooted out of our society. It is high time we learn to do a better job of protecting half of our population.
