Violence by intimate partners remains one of the most persistent and least addressed forms of abuse facing women in Bangladesh, according to an analysis of global and national data.
While the problem is not new, its implications remain troubling: Bangladesh continues to rank among the world’s worst‑affected countries, with rates of domestic violence far exceeding those of most of its regional neighbours.
Data compiled by the World Health Organisation (WHO) places Bangladesh 11th globally for the prevalence of physical and/or sexual violence against women by intimate partners, making it the second‑worst in South Asia, behind only Afghanistan.
Nearly one in two women in Bangladesh have experienced such violence, which persistently remained high over the years, according to the WHO data released in 2025.
National surveys analysed by The Daily Star also paint a similar grip picture. The Violence Against Women Survey 2024, published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in February 2025, found that 70 percent of women aged 15 and above had experienced at least one form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime.
The findings come as the world marks the International Day of Families today. In Bangladesh, the data highlight a stark contradiction: violence within intimate relationships remains widespread, undermining women’s wellbeing and consequently, the family unit.
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Experts warn such violence not only harms women physically and psychologically but also destabilises households, affects children’s development, and perpetuates cycles of fear, silence, and inequality across generations.
Zobaida Nasreen, a professor of anthropology at Dhaka University, said, “My research indicates that children from families where partner violence is common are more susceptible to trauma, fear of intimacy, avoidant behavior, and tendencies towards revenge.”
According to the latest survey done by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), 46.7 percent of women reported physical violence by an intimate partner, while 28.5 percent reported sexual violence. Emotional abuse was reported by 32.7 percent, economic violence by 9.7 percent, and controlling behaviour by partners by 50.1 percent of respondents.
A comparison of three national surveys by BBS conducted in 2011, 2015, and 2024 shows that violence by intimate partners remains far more common than violence by non‑partners.
However, there has been a modest improvement during this period. Lifetime exposure to physical, sexual, or emotional violence declined only slightly over the two decades, with more than half of women still reporting such experiences.
Region-wise, Barisal division recorded the highest lifetime prevalence in 2024, with 82 percent of women reporting at least one form of intimate partner violence, followed by Khulna at 81 percent. Dhaka and Sylhet, while comparatively lower, still reported high prevalence rates of 73 percent each.
The latest BBS survey also highlights how rarely abuse is reported. Among ever‑married women who experienced intimate partner violence, 64 percent did not tell anyone about their experience. Only 7.4 percent of survivors took legal action, while 37 percent said they considered it unnecessary to disclose the violence they faced.
Paradoxically, Bangladesh ranks relatively low on international measures of women’s stated acceptance of intimate partner violence. According to the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI), only 17 percent of women said a husband was justified in hitting or beating his wife -- placing Bangladesh 95th from the bottom globally, meaning women in 94 countries are more likely to accept such violence.
Yet lower acceptance has not translated into lower harm. The gap between attitudes and reality, experts say, points to a deeper failure of legal protection, enforcement, and social accountability, leaving violence widespread even where public acceptance of abuse appears limited.
Research shows that intimate partner violence in Bangladesh is closely linked to structural and social factors, including limited education, exposure to violence in childhood, dowry practices, substance abuse, and controlling behaviour by husbands.
Studies also associate higher risk with unequal family laws and deeply entrenched gender norms.
According to the OECD Development Centre, Bangladesh scored 81.9 out of 100 on SIGI’s “discrimination in the family” index, placing it among the world’s worst‑performing countries.
The score underscores persistent inequalities in divorce and inheritance laws, enforcement gaps, and conservative attitudes towards women’s roles. Under some existing laws and practices, women face greater barriers to divorce and inherit significantly less properties than men.
