Year
2025
Reform Domain
Women
Sub Domain
Institutional
Source of Reform Proposals
Women's Reform Commission Report
Reform Proposed
Reform Initiated
Legal and Policy Framework
Operationalisation
Action Implementation
Stage of Implementation
Reform Proposed
Last Update: 29-Jul-26
This reform proposal has been articulated in the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission Report. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s manifesto for the 13th National Parliamentary Election also included the following similar pledges: “Enforcing exemplary punishments for rape and female abuse,” “Strict legal measures to end gender-based and online violence, hatred, and bullying,” and “Special Union-level women support cells.”
Observation
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Although the Child Act, 2013 contains provisions for separate and child-friendly courts, its full implementation has remained limited for a long time in practice. Under the joint initiative of the Ministry of Law and UNICEF, separate child-friendly courts have been established in some districts; however, in most areas of the country, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals are still effectively being used as “child courts.” In this context, although the proposal to establish new “Child Violence Suppression Tribunals” in the amendment to the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act indicates further expansion of the specialised court structure, it remains unclear to what extent this will remove the existing structural ambiguity.
According to a section of legal experts, there is already a policy-level contradiction within Section 16 of the Child Act, 2013 itself. On the one hand, the law mentions separate child courts, while on the other hand, until separate courts are established, the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals have been allowed to perform the responsibilities of child courts. According to critics, as a result, the concept of specialised child courts becomes weakened in practice and the objective of ensuring a separate judicial environment for children is partially undermined.
Field-level reports published in various media outlets have shown that, in many cases, trials of children are still being conducted in crowded Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunals, where there is a lack of separate hearing rooms, child-friendly environments, proper seating arrangements, and infrastructural elements necessary to ensure psychological safety. Concerns have also been raised regarding the court environment, prolonged delays, and the presence of children in the same space as adult accused persons.
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