Dialogue on “Raise Your Voice, Break the Silence: Right to Consent and Choice and Gender Based Violence”

This dialogue between university students, academics, researchers, young film makers, story writers, and women’s rights activists aimed to create a space for young people to share their thoughts and experiences related to choice and consent, and how these are impacted by different forms of gender based discrimination and violence, as well as to identify future research and campaign areas for social transformation.

Discussants included Shireen Huq, founder member of Naripokkho, Dr. Sarkar Barbaq Qarmal, Assistant Professor at ULAB, Abdullah Mahfuz Ove, Director Bhanga Danar Golpo, and Mrittika Kamal, Director Sheuli Kotha. Sara Hossain, Hon. Executive Director, BLAST moderated the event. Notable guests included, among others, Professor Din M. Sumon Rahman, Associate Professor for Media Studies and Journalism at ULAB, Md. Ismail Hossain Niloy, Adjunct Faculty Member at ULAB, and Joya Sikder, President of hijra group Somporker Noya Setu.

Screening of the three films Cosmic Story, Sheuli Kotha, and Bhanga Danar Golpo, which received special recognition in the BLAST/ JPGSPH organised 2016 short film competition Jiboner Golpe Cinema Banai (Making Cinemas on Life Stories), spurred a lively discussion. The panelists noted the need to talk about confronting violence and not only about victimhood; many lamented the predominantly pessimistic representation of victims’ stories and the lack of positive, encouraging narratives of survival and overcoming. With regard to Cosmic Story, the film’s courageous account of taboo transgender realities in Bangladesh earned praise and sparked a discussion regarding actions being taken to change law, policy, and practice. Sheuli Kotha was seen as a strong call for bystanders to take action to stop violence and as an important reminder of the importance of an alert and decisive support system. Bhanga Danar Golpo highlighted emblematic cases of gender based violence in Bangladesh over the last decades and led to a passionate debate about the structure of violence and oppression that systematically makes and keeps women and other minorities vulnerable.

The Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and the Centre for Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (CGSRHR) of the James P. Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH), BRAC University, organised the dialogue, with support from RFSU, under the Recognising Consent and Choice Project.