A newly launched Bangladeshi platform has received 45 accounts of childhood sexual abuse within just 24 hours, offering a disturbing glimpse into experiences that many survivors say have remained hidden for years.
The platform, Awaz.bd, was launched on September 7 with the aim of bringing greater public attention to sexual abuse experienced during childhood, particularly among boys. Although the initiative was initially conceived around abuse in religious institutions, including madrasas, submissions have come from people of different backgrounds and from both men and women.
The accounts reveal patterns of repeated abuse, exploitation by people known to the victims and incidents occurring in places that should ordinarily provide children with safety.
According to statistics published by the platform based on the first 45 submissions, most respondents said they experienced abuse between the ages of seven and 12. Some 63% reported being abused more than once, while 38% said the abuse continued over an extended period, often beginning through force and later continuing through threats or intimidation.
The platform does not publish the names, photographs or identities of those submitting accounts. It says the information is anonymous and that it does not use cookies or tracking systems or retain users’ personal information.
Its message is simple: “Raise your voice.” The platform says that anonymous accounts can help demonstrate the scale of abuse against children in Bangladesh, particularly within educational institutions, and create pressure for authorities to take action.
Awaz.bd was primarily developed by Rakibul Hasan, 27, and Salahuddin Jahangir, 42. Hasan studied international relations at the University of Dhaka and now works as an online entrepreneur, while Jahangir is pursuing an MPhil at Islamic University in Kushtia and works for a private organisation.
Hasan said the initiative was inspired by reports of sexual abuse of boys, particularly cases involving madrasa students. Having studied at a Qawmi madrasa himself, he said he was familiar with the culture and environment of such institutions and wanted to create a mechanism through which the experiences of survivors could become part of a wider public conversation.
The founders were also inspired by the response generated by an online platform dealing with bribery. They hoped a similar model could generate sufficient social pressure to encourage government authorities and madrasa boards to address child sexual abuse more seriously.
Hasan stressed that Awaz.bd is not intended to function as a helpline, legal aid centre or emergency service. Rather, it is designed as an awareness and information platform that uses anonymous experiences to illustrate the nature and extent of the problem.
Although the project initially focused on boys in madrasas, the response quickly expanded beyond that scope. Survivors from different types of educational institutions have submitted accounts, including women describing abuse they experienced as children.
Several testimonies point to another troubling pattern: children are often abused not by strangers, but by relatives, acquaintances or people whom their families trust.
One male survivor described being repeatedly abused by a cousin in his own home. He said the abuse initially happened when he was too young to understand what was taking place and later became a repeated experience.
A woman who described being abused while she was in the fifth grade said a male cousin who regularly visited the family home to tutor her also played cricket with the children. She recalled being taken into a room when her mother was away and sexually abused.
She said that memories of the incident still cause her distress.
The statistics presented by the platform indicate that 64% of the reported survivors were male. Among male respondents, 32% identified acquaintances as perpetrators, while 26% identified trusted acquaintances. Another 16% reported abuse by close relatives and 10% by more distant relatives.
Among female respondents, 43% identified distant relatives as perpetrators, while 14% identified close relatives and another 14% trusted acquaintances. Seven percent identified acquaintances.
The platform also reported that roughly one in five respondents said they had been abused by a family member.
Homes emerged as the most frequently identified location. Some 56% of the reported incidents took place in residential settings, including 54% in the survivor’s own home, 19% in the alleged perpetrator’s home and 15% in the home of another relative.
The data also draws attention to educational institutions, where children often spend a significant portion of their formative years.
Thirty-six percent of the respondents said they had experienced sexual abuse in an educational institution. Among those reports, 56% involved Qawmi madrasas and 19% involved schools. Other accounts referred to mosques, Alia madrasas and universities.
One survivor recalled being a student at a well-known Qawmi madrasa and becoming vulnerable to abuse while ill and sleeping in a residential room. The account raised questions about supervision and safeguarding in residential educational institutions.
Another survivor described being abused by an older student while attending a village kindergarten. The survivor said the abuse occurred during a period when several students stayed at the school at night for additional study.
Years later, the person said the experience continued to affect them psychologically.
Some of the accounts also describe a particularly disturbing cycle in which people who were abused as children later became involved in abusive behaviour themselves.
One male survivor said he was sexually abused by an older relative during childhood and later by a school friend. He described the experiences as deeply traumatic and said he subsequently became involved in similar behaviour.
Such accounts underline the possibility that childhood sexual abuse can have consequences that extend far beyond the original incident, affecting survivors’ emotional development, relationships and behaviour later in life.
Several contributors also placed responsibility on parents and guardians, arguing that greater awareness within families could help prevent abuse.
One woman who described being abused by a relative recalled that her parents became angry when she resisted visiting certain relatives. She suggested that greater parental awareness might have prevented what she described as the destruction of her childhood.
Child-rights advocates say the accounts collected by the platform should be viewed within the broader context of child safety in Bangladesh.
Laila Khandaker, convenor of the organisation Shishurai Shob, said sexual abuse can have long-lasting consequences for children and may affect their lives well into adulthood, including their relationships with partners and their ability to live normally.
She stressed the importance of teaching children about safe and unsafe touch and creating environments where they can report inappropriate behaviour to parents, teachers or other trusted adults without fear.
She also called for perpetrators to be held accountable through the justice system.
According to Khandaker, child sexual abuse has reached a level that should be treated as a national crisis, requiring the government to take the lead in developing preventive measures and strengthening protection mechanisms.
The 45 accounts collected during Awaz.bd’s first 24 hours cannot, by themselves, be treated as a comprehensive national survey. They are anonymous submissions to a newly established platform rather than independently verified cases or a statistically representative sample.
But the speed and nature of the response highlight something more fundamental: many survivors appear to have carried their experiences silently for years.
For those who have spent much of their lives living with memories of abuse, speaking publicly—even anonymously—can represent a first step toward breaking that silence.
The challenge now is whether these voices can translate into stronger safeguards in homes, schools, madrasas and other institutions, ensuring that children are protected before another generation is forced to say, years later, that they are still carrying the trauma.
A news by Alisha Pradhan, General Secretary, HerNet Foundation