Citation

Al Mamun F, Hosen I, Mamun MA. EClinicalMedicine 2021; 34: e100817.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100817

PMID

33898955

Abstract

Sexual violence includes acts ranging from verbal sexual harassment to sexual coercion to forced penetration. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sexual violence is "any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic or otherwise directed against a person's sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work". About 35% of the women have been violated sexually and/or physically by an intimate partner or by a non-partner during their lifetime, as estimated by WHO. Specific statistics related to sexual violence is limited in Bangladesh, but in this context, nearly 60% of Bangladeshi men are found performing violent behaviors towards their intimate partner. Bangladesh has the second highest prevalence of sexual intimate partner violence against women in the world, after Ethiopia (58•6% vs 49•7%). Likely this prevalence has increased, as there has been a global increase in domestic and sexual violence during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by the United Nations Population Fund. Rape, a severe form of sexual violence, affects all aspects of women quality of life including- reproductive health (e.g., unsafe abortion, sexual dysfunction), mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety, suicidality), and behavioral health (e.g., unprotected sexual intercourse, multiple partners).

Based on data from Odhikar, a Bangladeshi human rights organization, at least 14,718 victims (including 6900 women and 7664 children) were raped within the years of 2001 to 2019 in Bangladesh, and 2823 cases were gang-raped. The highest rape incidence trend reported from 2001 to 2019 was between the year of 2002 to 2003 (with 1350 and 1336 victims reported, respectively), with a gradual decline in 2008. However, this was followed by an increase in the following years and in particular in 2019, when 1080 rape victims were reported compared to the 635 of 2018. Furthermore, daily 13-rape incidences were reported in the first four-month of the year of 2020 and later on a surge in sexual violence including rape has been observed in Bangladesh. At the end of 2020, there were at least 1627 rape victims and 317 gang rape incidences reported, which were 1080 and 294, respectively for the year of 2019...

Language: en