On the occasion of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2021, a discussion meeting was held on November 25, 2021 at the office of the 13th Ward Commissioner, next to Manipur High School (Main) in Mirpur and a human chain was held in front of the office. The event was organised by BILS and CAMPE in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada and Oxfam in Bangladesh.
Ward 13 Councilor Md. Ismail Mollah spoke on the occasion. He urged the domestic workers to be aware of their rights and called for taking a strong stand against the physical and mental abuse of domestic workers. In addition, if any domestic worker of this ward is ever a victim of any kind of abuse, they must complain to his office and he expressed his determination to cooperate with them in this regard. Firoz Hossain, a representative of Apex Body of Suniti Project and trade union affairs secretary of Jatiya Sramik League, said the government needs to implement full-fledged Domestic Worker Protection and Welfare Policy, 2015 and improve life skills and technical training of domestic workers. He informed everyone that Suniti project is working regularly in this regard. Md. Enamul Haque Khan Taposh, Program Coordinator of Campaign for Popular Education and Md. Yusuf Al-Mamun, Deputy Director and Project Coordinator of BILS called upon all to come forward for the success of Prevention of Violence against Women.
At the end of the human chain, a meeting was held with the dignitaries of the area and in the presence of the councilor to create awareness about the abuse of domestic workers and to prevent the abuse. The meeting informed the ward councilor about the activities of the project and invited him to visit the training center. Senior Advocacy Officer Chowdhury Borhan Uddin, Monitoring Officer Kamruzzaman Fahim and others were also present on behalf of the project.