At a press conference at the National Press Club, leaders of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad demanded restoration of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 by cancelling its amended version of 2003 which provides no punishment to eve teasers.

They said the restoration is a must as a considerable number of girls in the country were forced to commit suicide for eve teasing during the last couple of years.

The parishad also urged the youths to come forward to stop eve teasing and form a united social movement to establish women's rights.

To mark the occasion, another press conference was organised jointly by Bangladesh Development Partnership Centre (BDPC), Bangladesh Human Rights Defenders Groups (BHRDG), Nari O Manobadhikar Foundation (Namaf) and Bangladesh Coalition for Child Rights (BCCR) at the National Press Club.

Speakers at the press conference called for reactivating the Women and Children Repression Prevention Court to stop violence against women and children.

They also called for strong measures to check violence against minority community including tribal women ahead of the ninth general election.

While reading out a written statement Sharif A Kafi, national coordinator of BHRDG, expressed concern over the increasing rate of violence against women in the country.

He said a total of 68,660 incidents of repression on women took place from October 2001 to March 2006 which marks an increase of 22,741 incidents over the corresponding period of previous five years.

In observance of the day Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) organised a discussion titled 'Stability in family, society and politics to prevent violence against women and children'.

Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR) organised a cultural programme at Dhanmondi to increase awareness about women's rights.

National Girl Child Advocacy Forum formed a human chain at Shahbagh while Partnership of Women in Action formed another human chain in front of the High Court with a call for bringing the women engaged in non-institutional sectors under the labour law of the country.

The day was also observed by rights organisations in hill districts urging the government to create three reserve posts for women alongside the male in the district councils of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari.

The Rangamati district unit of Stop Violence Against Women (SVAW) organised a rally on the premises of Deputy Commissioner's office.

Broti and Durbar Network expressed solidarity with the rally.