Standing by cyber victims

Bangladesh is among those countries, where almost every woman and girl experiences some form of sexual harassment in their lifetime. And they face it not only in public places but also at their homes. From ordinary women to celebrity, no one seems to stay out of this list. There is hardly any young woman who does not have to hear negative comments about her body shape, structure, skin colour and weight. What is even more alarming is that such remarks can even come from her close relatives, friends and family members.

On top of this, young women have to face an adverse environment in the virtual world only because they are women. While using social media, they often receive unwanted sexually-explicit texts, emojis, pictures and video clips from unknown accounts. Almost every woman is reported to have experienced cyber harassment in one form or the other on a day-to-day basis. However, most of them remain silent and do not want to seek help from the cybercrime cell due to their family pressure. Families should develop a trustful and supportive environment at home so that victims can open up about their ordeals and seek mental health support instead of ending up with depression and suicidal thoughts.

Ashikujaman Syed,

Research Assistant,

Bioinformatics Research Lab,

Center for Research Innovation and Development (CRID),

syedashikujaman@yahoo.com