Amidst the global COVID-19 crisis, Bangladesh is also facing an alarming ‘shadow pandemic’: the rise of violence against women. Since the onset of a nation-wide lockdown in March, women throughout Bangladesh have reported increased levels of emotional, physical and sexual violence, most commonly at the hands of their husbands. BRAC, a major Bangladeshi non-government organization, reported a nearly 70% rise in reported incidents of gender-based violence against women in March and April 2020 compared to the previous year.
For some women, this was the first time they had experienced such violence, likely precipitated by economic stress, fear and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. However, for many, the changing social conditions brought about by the COVID-19 crisis have merely served to exacerbate their already high risk and exposure to this violence.