TLTP
\nDHAKA
\nBangladeshi police has launched an all-female unit to tackle a rise in online abuse and harassment targeting women, the country\u2019s police chief said, as authorities seek to address growing public concern about gender-based violence.
\nPolice hope the unit will encourage more women to come forward to report digital abuse, including so-called revenge porn, hacking of their social media accounts and online threats from blackmailers. \u201cWe have different teams working with cybercrime in the police\u2026 but many (women) don\u2019t want to approach these areas, that\u2019s why we have created an all-woman team,\u201d said Benazir Ahmed, inspector general of police.
\n\u201cWe believe that women will be more comfortable to speak to the all-woman team\u2026 the unit will not reveal the names of the women who complain. This will further encourage them,\u201d he told a news conference. Women account for most of the victims of the nearly 6,100 cases filed under various laws to prevent digital abuse in Bangladesh, police say. The announcement comes as authorities respond to growing concern in the country about an increase in sex crimes, including rape in recent years.<\/p>\n
Last month, the government extended the use of the death penalty for rapists following protests sparked by an online video that showed a group of men sexually assaulting a woman. Nearly 1,350 women were raped in Bangladesh in the first 10 months of this year, according to rights group Ain o Salish Kendra, about 100 more than the number of rapes reported during the same period last year.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s rights activist Maleka Banu said the surge in online sexual abuse reflected a steep increase in internet usage in the South Asian nation, where the number of people online has doubled over the last five years, official data shows. \u201cIt\u2019s easier to target women online rather than in the real world. All you need is a phone,\u201d said Banu, general secretary of women\u2019s rights group Bangladesh Mahila Parishad.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarting an all-female police unit is a good step. But this unit needs to be monitored properly, so that women can reach out to them, or else it won\u2019t create any change,\u201d she said. TLTP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP DHAKA Bangladeshi police has launched an all-female unit to tackle a rise in online abuse and harassment targeting women, the country\u2019s police chief said, as authorities seek to address growing public concern about gender-based violence. Police hope the unit will encourage more women to come forward to report digital abuse, including so-called revenge porn, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n