When it comes to dealing with violence against vulnerable groups in society, such as children, legislation is but one tool of deterrence but it's an important one, whether or not a certain piece of legislation is properly enacted. In Bangladesh, there are laws providing protection for children, especially girls, but these laws have often proved to be ineffective either because of an absence of stricter clauses or lack of proper implementation. These resulted in a surge in violence of late.

Given the situation, speakers at a roundtable on Sunday stressed the importance of improving legal protection for children by formulating appropriate mechanism for the implementation of Children Act 2013. They also demanded a change to the laws inimical to the rights of children as well as a host of supportive measures including introduction of a monitoring cell to follow up on violence-related cases, establishment of a Child Rights Commission, as well as annulment of the special provision in the Child Marriage Restraint Act-2017 which, they say, may increase risks of rape and early pregnancy.

Recent statistics support the need for urgent action. According to one estimate, 32 children were raped in July, while another estimate says that a total of 336 children were raped and 48 gang-raped between January and July. A child killed herself after being subjected to humiliation for an alleged affair earlier this week. The situation may not improve unless the government brings about necessary changes in the laws and creates an environment of zero tolerance towards violence of any sorts—sexual, physical or psychological—through formulating a Rules of Business for effective implementation of the said Act.