574 girls raped in 8 months in Bangladesh: report

The National Girl Child Advocacy Forum publishes the report to mark the National Girl Child Day

As many as 574 girls aged up to 19 years have been raped in the first eight months of 2022, according to a report.

The National Girl Child Advocacy Forum published the report at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Friday to mark the National Girl Child Day.

Out of the victims, 84 were gang-raped and 43 of them had disabilities.

The Forum prepared the report with the help of Educo Bangladesh from newspaper and online reports

Nasima Akter Jolly, secretary to the Forum, said 181 girls died by suicide in the January to August period. Eight infants were found abandoned while three girls were subjected to acid violence and 136 to kidnaping and trafficking.

The Forum recorded eight incidents of torture of girls working as house help. Of them, two were killed and one died by suicide.

Only 15 incidents of child marriages were reported by the media, Jolly said, adding that the situation was far worse as their data suggested 2,301 girls were married off in 28 districts in this period.

As many as 76 girls were sexually harassed and the incidents occurred at home or streets. Jolly said the number would be much higher because most of such incidents remain a secret.

She said child pornography has come as a new form of sexual harassment with 15 girls subjected to pornography in the eight months.

“Bangladesh’s future depends on the future of girls. We can’t build a beautiful future for Bangladesh if we can’t create a safe environment and facilities for them,” said Badiul Alam Majmuder, president of the Forum.