In the contemporary socio-political landscape of Bangladesh, one cannot overstate the alarming rise in gender-based violence and crimes against children. These harrowing realities are no longer mere statistics relegated to reports and journal articles -- they have become visceral truths confronting the moral conscience of the nation.
The pervasive culture of impunity, state-sanctioned inertia, and an erosion of justice have pushed countless women and children into the shadows of fear and despair.
Against this backdrop, the recent announcement by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to establish Legal and Health Support Cells for Oppressed Women and Children in all 84 organizational districts constitutes a significant and courageous intervention. It offers a glimmer of institutional hope in a time of deepening ethical crisis.
Violence on the rise
Bangladesh has dealt with an increasing normalization of violence, particularly against its most vulnerable populations. The political culture has largely turned a blind eye, if not directly contributed, to the rampant abuse of power. Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General, has accurately described the current climate as one where “killings, disappearances, murders, rapes, and torture of women and children have become disturbingly commonplace.”
Consider, for instance, the tragic case of eight-year-old Asia in Magura, brutally raped and killed. Her story is not an isolated incident; it is emblematic of a broader pattern of institutional neglect and a breakdown of accountability mechanisms. In such a grim landscape, BNP’s Legal and Health Support Cells appear to challenge not only the prevailing culture of impunity but also the moral bankruptcy that has come to define governance in Bangladesh today.
In ethical philosophy, Immanuel Kant insists upon the inviolable dignity of every human being, arguing that one must always be treated as an end in themselves, never as a means to an end. Yet, in Bangladesh, countless women and children are treated as collateral damage in the larger game of political expediency and societal indifference.
Understanding trauma
BNP’s initiative seeks to restore dignity by ensuring that victims have access to justice, medical care, and psychological support. It speaks to the ethical obligation of a political entity to protect those whom the state has forsaken. The cells are staffed primarily by female professionals, both legal and medical, creating an environment of empathy, trust, and confidentiality.
In the words of John Rawls, "Justice is the first virtue of social institutions." BNP’s action reflects an understanding that justice delayed is justice denied, and more crucially, justice denied is humanity betrayed.
Dr Judith Herman, a pioneer in trauma psychology, writes that “the first principle of recovery is the restoration of safety.” Physical wounds may heal, but psychological scars often last a lifetime, particularly in the absence of appropriate support systems. Many survivors of sexual violence in Bangladesh experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and chronic anxiety -- conditions frequently exacerbated by social stigma and institutional neglect.
By offering comprehensive health and psychological counseling, BNP’s Legal and Health Support Cells recognize the complex nature of trauma. They offer not only legal redress but also the possibility of psychological healing, which is essential for restoring agency and dignity to survivors.
Justice delayed is justice denied, and more crucially, justice denied is humanity betrayed
Countering crime
From a criminological perspective, Cesare Beccaria, the father of modern criminal justice theory, asserted that certainty of punishment, rather than its severity, is the key deterrent to crime. However, in Bangladesh, the certainty of impunity has emboldened perpetrators.
BNP’s district-wide cells aim to counteract this by ensuring that cases of violence are not buried under bureaucratic indifference or political manipulation. By providing victims with direct access to legal representation, the initiative seeks to restore faith in the rule of law, thereby contributing to the re-socialization of justice in a society where it has been largely privatized by the powerful.
Coming from the top down
Tarique Rahman, the Acting Chairman of BNP, on International Women’s Day relayed a message offering rare insight into a leadership philosophy grounded in personal reflection and societal responsibility. He spoke about the influence of his mother, his wife, and his daughter, positioning them as central to his understanding of gender equity and social justice.
Under his strategic leadership, BNP’s focus on women’s economic empowerment and legal protection reflects a broader political ethic that moves beyond rhetoric to pragmatic action. His commitment is evident in BNP’s multi-pronged policy offerings: vocational training, SME loans for women entrepreneurs, and now, this comprehensive support network for survivors of violence.
To the community level
What distinguishes this initiative from similar efforts is its grassroots architecture. By extending services to rural and marginalized communities, BNP is challenging the urban-centric bias of most legal and healthcare services in Bangladesh. It democratizes access to justice and care, ensuring that no victim is too remote to be heard and no district is beyond the reach of protection.
This is reminiscent of Kofi Annan’s assertion that “gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development, and building good governance.” BNP’s model offers a template for participatory justice, where empowerment begins at the local level and expands upward to the national consciousness.
In an era marked by moral cynicism and political opportunism, BNP’s Legal and Health Support Cells for Oppressed Women and Children could mark the beginning of a transformative chapter in Bangladesh’s socio-political evolution. It challenges the status quo, holds a mirror to the state’s failures, and offers a people-centric model of justice rooted in ethical, philosophical, and legal traditions.
It is a comprehensive response to an urgent crisis, executed not as a political maneuver but as a moral and social imperative.
The road ahead, however, is fraught with challenges. Effective implementation, sustained political will, and active societal participation will determine the long-term success of this initiative.
It is this collective ethos that must guide Bangladesh forward -- towards a society where justice is not a privilege for the few but a birthright for all.
HM Nazmul Alam is an academic, journalist, and political analyst. Email: [email protected]
