Dhaka, Nov 25 : Bangladesh Mahila Parishad leaders on Tuesday said that mob violence in the country has become a matter of serious concern in the recent times with cases rising dramatically. They also highlighted that incidents of violence against women and girls have increased enormously and called for suppression of misogynistic propaganda, the local media reported.

While addressing a press conference on the occasion of International Day for the Prevention of Violence against Women on Tuesday, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad leaders highlighted that 2,468 reports of violence against women and girls have been published in media outlets of the country in the past 10 months (January-October 2025), Bangladesh's Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported. Of these, 713 women and girls have been victims of rape, gang rape, and suicide after rape, as per the news reports.

Apart from this, women and girls have faced various types of violence, including murder, domestic violence, dowry, child marriage, sexual assault, kidnapping, and cyber violence.

In response to several questions at the press conference, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad President Fawzia Moslem stated, "Proper implementation of the law, change in patriarchal attitudes and social institutions must play a role against torture. Misogynistic propaganda must be firmly suppressed. There have been incidents of torture of women in the media as well. A standard needs to be set here too."

During the press conference, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad Joint Secretary Masuda Rehana Begum said, "Mob violence has become a matter of concern in recent times. It has increased dramatically. Analyzing five years of data shows that incidents of violence against women and children are not decreasing."

Another Joint Secretary of the organisation, Seema Moslem, stated that there will no real empowerment of women until women are not empowered in decision-making. She even called for direct elections for reserved seats in Bangladesh's National Parliament, Prothom Alo reported.

A survey published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) this year revealed that 76 per cent of women in Bangladesh have faced physical, mental, sexual and financial abuse or controlling behaviuor at some point in their lives, particularly at the hands of their husbands.

Bangladesh has witnessed a disturbing escalation in violence against women under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, exposing the degrading law and order situation in the country.

Fresh figures highlight a troubling reality in Bangladesh, where 663 women were raped in the first nine months of 2025, local media reported.

The data, released by the Dhaka-based Human Rights Support Society (HRSS), underscored what rights activists warn is a growing crisis driven by impunity, deteriorating law and order, and the failure of the Yunus-led interim government to meet its obligations under international women's rights conventions, including the Beijing Declaration.

Speaking to a leading Bangladeshi daily, Dhaka Tribune, human rights activist Sultana Kamal claimed that the reported number reflects only a fraction of the widespread violence unfolding across the country.

"We learn about rape and torture when they reach the media, usually after a murder or a particularly brutal incident. There are countless forms of violence that never come to light. What we are seeing is already a horrific picture," she said.

According to Sultana, the rising frequency of rape and sexual violence reflects a blatant neglect of women's rights and dignity.

"In an independent country where we take pride in our culture and history, more than six hundred women were raped in just nine months. This shows extreme disregard for women -- by families, by society, and by the state," she stated.

Stressing that the culture of impunity has emboldened perpetrators, Sultana said, "There used to be a belief among criminals that committing these crimes would lead to punishment. That belief has disappeared. When women are tortured without consequence, violence continues. It is an assault on the dignity of women and the sanctity of their bodies."

/IANS