Seven teenage workers among dead, missing
At least seven of those killed or missing in the Arian Fashion fire in the capital’s Rupnagar were aged between 13 and 18.
15 October 2025, 18:41 PM
50% women don’t know where to report abuse
BBS-UNFPA survey on violence against women reveals alarming figures
13 October 2025, 18:13 PM
When motherhood comes with fear
For mothers across Bangladesh, love for their daughters comes with an inseparable companion: fear. From Dhaka’s crowded apartments to quiet village streets, raising girls in a patriarchal society demands constant vigilance, courage, and resilience.
10 October 2025, 18:05 PM
Int’l day of the girl child / A nation’s daughters in peril
In a year shadowed by violence and uncertainty, Bangladesh’s girls have stood where courage is tested most. They are the first to lose when systems fail, yet the first to rise when the world needs rebuilding. From classrooms to clinics, protest lines to policy tables, they lead with resilience beyond their years.
10 October 2025, 18:00 PM
World mental health day: The silent cries while on the job
Poor work conditions fuelling mental health crisis, costing trillions worldwide, WHO data shows
9 October 2025, 18:05 PM
Child malnutrition: Country struggles to break free
Mitu Akter had the scare of her life when her daughter Raisa began showing alarming symptoms: pale skin, and swelling in her belly, hands, and feet.
2 October 2025, 18:23 PM
Shishu Bikash centres: Govt cuts specialist care for children with special needs
For children with special needs, the 35 Shishu Bikash Kendras have been more than clinics -- they are lifelines offering hope in a country where proper, affordable care is rare.
13 September 2025, 18:17 PM
In bamboo shelters, Rohingya women stitch new futures
About 34 kilometres southeast of Cox’s Bazar, the sprawling Rohingya camps in Ukhiya stretch across hills and valleys, their bamboo walls and tarpaulin roofs forming temporary shelters crowded with people and stories too often left untold.
12 September 2025, 19:00 PM
Water harvesting in coastal upazilas: From scarcity to security
Archana Rani, 36, a homemaker from coastal upazila Assasuni in Satkhira, struggled for 23 years to collect drinking water from faraway sources that were often salty and contaminated with arsenic.
21 March 2023, 18:00 PM
Coastal men break traditional gender roles
While many urban millennial men continue to view unpaid domestic work as something women do, a lot of men in the coastal areas of Khulna and Satkhira are taking up the job and sharing responsibilities with their wives.
8 March 2023, 18:00 PM
Women still made to lag far behind
The report, titled "Gender-Based Employment and Wage", said the percentage of female officials in public administration was 19.62 percent, while it was 22.64 percent in the field administration
7 March 2023, 01:20 AM
Bridging the Digital Gender Divide
Despite the government’s ambitious Digital Bangladesh agenda, a significant digital gender divide persists in the country, leaving women at a disadvantage in accessing and using ICT tools compared to men.
6 March 2023, 18:00 PM
Children With Cancer: A parent’s worst nightmare
Young parents Ringku Mia’s and Shifa Akter’s world had turned upside down when their four-year-old daughter Farha was diagnosed with stage-4 cancer that originated from a tumour in her kidney.
15 February 2023, 01:20 AM
Students In Slums: Putting up a brave fight for a future
In Abul’s slum, or “Abuler Bosti”, in the capital’s Bhashantek, one of the most frequented places is his grocery-cum-tea shop.
13 February 2023, 01:30 AM
Hepatitis B During Pregnancy: Newborns at risk of liver cirrhosis, cancer
Hepatitis B virus is one that can be easily passed on from mother to child, putting the newborn at the risk of future liver cirrhosis or cancer.
11 February 2023, 01:45 AM
Implementation will fall short: study
To achieve the health rights of 3.6 crore adolescents in Bangladesh, the government developed the National Strategy for Adolescent Health and the National Plan of Action to implement it. However, a new study found that the implementation will fall short of addressing the diverse health needs of adolescents.
7 February 2023, 18:00 PM
Maternal Healthcare: Slum women left to fend for themselves
Eighteen-year-old Julekha Begum, of Tejgaon slum, was married off at 15 and is currently in the ninth month of pregnancy.
29 January 2023, 01:40 AM
Ensuring child rights: Social protection schemes are crucial
Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian social reformer who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Malala Yousafzai in 2014, talks to the The Daily Star about the global child rights situation during his visit to Bangladesh on January 14-18.
23 January 2023, 18:00 PM
Lives deprived of hope
Twelve-year-old Rubaiya’s world is limited to her bed. A resident of the Korail slum in the capital, she lives in a dark windowless tin-shed shanty. She has not seen a glimpse of the sky in the last three years. The last time she went on a trip outside was seven years ago, at her grandmother’s home in Cumilla.
18 January 2023, 02:20 AM
A good initiative, but still a long way to go
The instalment of CCTV cameras in city buses by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has generated a positive response among female commuters as well as bus staffers, as they believe the initiative has brought a change in the behavioural pattern of the overall commuters.
26 December 2022, 18:00 PM
Domestic Violence Victims: Back in with abusers as the state fails them
What forces abused women to return to live with their tormentors even after repeated incidents of domestic violence?
10 December 2022, 01:00 AM
1098 Helpline: A godsend for children in distress
Moriom Begum has been a victim of domestic violence ever since she got married in 2016 for not being able to pay dowry money.
9 December 2022, 01:10 AM
Rape survivors face cruel realities
Sabina, 33, a young professional from Rangpur, tries hard to forget about the horrific day in 2019, when she was raped by her uncle. But even after three years the memory of her ordeal is fresh and has turned her days into a harrowing quest for survival.
28 November 2022, 01:30 AM
How green papayas go from Tk 7 to 25
How much does a kilo of green papaya from Manikganj’s Singair upazila cost? Well, depending on whom you are buying from, the price can be anywhere from Tk 7 to Tk 25.
25 November 2022, 18:00 PM
Women paint a grim picture of workplaces
It has been 13 years since the High Court gave directives to form sexual harassment complaint committees in the workplace and educational institutions, but there has been little to no progress so far.
25 November 2022, 01:30 AM
Rape victim’s character can no longer be questioned
The much talked about Evidence Act (Amendment) Bill 2022 incorporating the admissibility of digital evidence by the court was passed unanimously in parliament yesterday.
3 November 2022, 18:00 PM
Pushed further into darkness
It was almost one o’clock at night. A woman in her 30s was screaming for help from inside an auto-rickshaw near Farmgate. The roads were almost empty, and the few people nearby were reluctant to check what was going on, as they feared that they might land in trouble.
28 October 2022, 18:00 PM
Looking after the neglected
Sixty-year-old Asiya Begum, a resident of the capital’s Korail slum, lives in a tiny makeshift room made of tin, slightly larger than the size of a grave, with no ventilation or fan. At first glance, it might look like she has been buried alive.
12 October 2022, 18:00 PM