Bangladesh is currently navigating a quiet yet catastrophic renal emergency. With an estimated 3.8 crore people suffering from various forms of kidney ailments, nearly one-fourth of the nation’s population is at risk.

Kidney stones are hard, solid masses made from minerals and salts. These form inside your kidneys when waste products in the urine build up.

For many women, these small moments shape how the city is experienced. Routes are chosen based on light and activity.

Women carving out their space

Justice must not be a distant promise; it must be something every woman and girl can rely on in her daily life.

As we enter another political transition, it may be helpful to reflect on some of the opportunities for building a justice system that is inclusive, that reflects the diversity of our population, including in terms of sex, ethnicity, disability and religion, and that can strengthen the recognition and realisation of women’s rights.

Laws, however, only matter if they work for survivors. Justice must be visible, accessible and humane.

Specialised courts remain one of the most important mechanisms for addressing crimes against women and children, but meaningful reform is urgently needed.

Women’s economic participation remains visibly constrained by informal employment, limited social protection, and workplace harassment. Approximately 96 per cent of female workers are engaged in the informal sector, making them particularly vulnerable to exploitation and economic instability.

Bangladesh has made important progress in reforming its labour law. Yet gender gaps persist not only in the law's text but also in its structure and implementation. From unequal maternity standards and reduced benefit calculations to procedural ambiguities in harassment cases, weak enforcement of union representation provisions, and structural discrimination in certain sectors, significant challenges remain.

Across rural Bangladesh, thousands of women contribute daily to farming, fishing, and resource management. They cultivate crops, rear livestock, mend nets, process fish, and manage household economies. But when it comes to formal access to public land, wetlands, and agricultural credit, they remain largely invisible.

Bangladesh stands at a moment it calls renewal, yet women remain marginal to its authorship. From Parliament to panels, men continue to speak for the nation, while women remain an afterthought.

Unfortunately, for centuries, once a woman experiences violence, the first point of discussion will be whether the woman in question was a 'good' or a 'bad' woman.

If Bangladesh is serious about women’s empowerment, it must build a comprehensive victim-centric support system in matters of sexual harassment and other gender-based violence.

The concern most widely shared among Indigenous populations in opposing women's inheritance of land centres on the increasing instances of exogamous marriages in the CHT.

Grey areas remain. Deepfake content is recognised, but victims often lack recourse under copyright law because they do not “own” the manipulated material. Section 17 addresses harmful AI outputs, yet identifying the origin of automated, AI-driven harassment remains technically complex.

The prospect of societal advancement while keeping women outside the mainstream of development is simply unrealistic.

Across every region of the country, within families of many different communities, classes, and professions, countless individuals are being subjected to physical and psychological violence. What follows is a brief attempt to outline the legal framework governing marriage, divorce, maintenance, and child guardianship under the laws currently in force in Bangladesh.

Khushi Chakma, a 34-year-old mother from Shimultuli Village in Rangamati, is transforming her community’s economic landscape through climate-resilient farming.

The dawn of International Women’s Day 2026 arrives with a sombre resonance. While the streets of Dhaka are often decorated in shades of purple, the headlines tell a grimmer story.