Challenging norms underpinning gender-based violence: feminist and LGBTQI+ movements working together in Bangladesh

Gender-based violence (GBV) remains a pervasive global issue, deeply rooted in patriarchal structures, power imbalances and oppressive gender norms. Social movements are at the forefront of challenging these norms and advocating for gender justice. 

This report examines the role of feminist and LGBTQI+ movements in shifting gender norms and engaging on issues of GBV in Bangladesh. The research used qualitative evidence gathered through focus group discussions, interviews and a sensemaking workshop across three regions of Bangladesh – Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet. The report documents existing alliances, regional variations and structural gaps to support movement actors in co-creating safer, more sustainable and more inclusive strategies for collective action.

The research highlights how feminist and LGBTQI+ movement actors in Bangladesh see an urgent need to build bridges, co-create strategies for mobilisation and build stronger pathways for consistent advocacy with different stakeholders. The report recommends the need for solidarity and allyship amongst movements and highlights how some actors are already taking steps towards this.

Key messages

• There is a fundamental gap between the sense of ideological kinship the movements feel and the practical reality of how they organise together. LGBTQI+ actors are frequently relegated to peripheral roles and movement spaces often reproduce the very gender, class, geographic and educational hierarchies they aim to dismantle. The movements have historically been heavily capital-city centric and activated by crisis, shared events and individual relationships, instead of held together through shared institutional infrastructure or common long-term agendas.
• Traditional social and gender norms underpin GBV within both movements. The traditional framing of GBV impacting only cisgender women fails to capture the lived realities of other gender identities. There is a gap between how violence is officially recognised and how it is experienced by women, gender-diverse individuals and structurally excluded communities. 
• Religion is a strong contributor to norms that drive GBV, but movements are making efforts to reclaim religious institutions as sites of contestation rather than obstacles.
• Attempts to advocate for LGBTQI+ rights are framed as ‘imported’ or ‘alien’ agendas despite the deep historical roots of these communities in Bangladesh. GBV is often justified as a means of ‘protecting’ traditional and cultural values. Digital platforms are frequently used to spread disinformation and hate speech, framing LGBTQI+ individuals as deviants or criminals.