Online harassment against women: Empowered through information
ANUKUL, in collaboration with the BRAC University Law Society (BULS), hosted an insightful seminar titled “Online Harassment against Women: Strengthening Paths to Justice” on November 10th, at the BRAC University Auditorium. The event aimed at raising awareness about the existing threat of online harassment against women while discussing the role of law, activism and technology in safeguarding and empowering their voices.
The seminar commenced with Dr. Saira Rahman Khan (Professor, SoL) speaking up about online harassment and introducing our distinguished panelists: Barrister Rashna Imam (Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh), Barrister Tasnuva Shelley (Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh) and Adv. Rafiqul Islam (Public Prosecutor, Cyber Tribunal Dhaka). Barrister Rashna Imam underscored the concerning rise of online harassment against women, especially those in public life such as lawyers, activists, politicians etc and how it poses a social, democratic and economic threat upon us. She enlightened that despite women making up over half of Bangladesh’s population, they continuously get harassed in online spaces through fake accounts and frivolous comments which silence their voices. She called for stronger law enforcement and institutional campaigns by saying, “We have to conduct more national campaigns to gradually change the patriarchal mindset and stigma against women.”
Barrister Tasnuva Shelley further reinforced that oftentimes women face harassment from their close people and feel scared to speak up while the ones who courageously do see their cases get buried under the rug due to lack of evidence. For instance, despite the enforcement of the Digital Security Act, the number of convicted harassers is only 8% in the last seven years. Thus, she emphasized the need for developing digital forensics in our country to properly investigate online evidence. Lastly, Advocate Rafiqul Islam showcased the difficulties that Cyber Tribunal faces and guided us through the process of lodging a complaint and how it can result in meaningful accountability to encourage people to come forward and seek justice.
The seminar ended with Dr. Khan further stressing the idea of “naming and shaming”, followed by an engaging Q/A session. Tasnim Binte Zahid (Sophomore, ESS) shared,
“Hopefully, a surge in meaningful seminars like this is a step towards positive change.”
