Workplace Sexual Harassment in Bangladesh: Your Rights, the Complaint Committee and Where to Go Next

In this guide: What counts as harassment · Making the complaint · Criminal and online routes · If you are punished for complaining · For employers

The short answer

Sexual harassment at work includes unwelcome physical contact, sexual remarks or demands, showing sexual material, threats or promises tied to sexual favours, and the same conduct by phone, messaging or social media. Under the High Court Division’s 2009 guideline in BNWLA v Bangladesh, every employer and educational institution must take preventive steps and run a complaint committee of at least five members, a majority women and headed by a woman where possible. In 2026 the advisory council approved the Workplace and Educational Institutions Sexual Harassment Prevention Ordinance, requiring internal complaint committees, local committees through the DC and UNO where none exists, and completion of inquiries within 90 days, and Parliament passed a Labour Act amendment defining sexual harassment in line with ILO Convention 190. A worker can complain internally and, for serious conduct, file a criminal case at the same time.

What counts as harassment

• Unwelcome touching, blocking, following or physical intimidation.
• Sexual comments, jokes about appearance, requests for dates or sexual favours.
• Promises of promotion or threats of dismissal linked to sexual conduct.
• Showing or sending sexual images, messages or videos, including on WhatsApp, Messenger or email.
• Stalking, calling repeatedly, or spreading sexual rumours.

The test is whether the conduct was unwelcome and of a sexual nature, not what the harasser intended.

Making the complaint

1. Write down dates, times, words used, witnesses and keep screenshots with the sender’s number or profile visible.
2. Submit a written complaint to the workplace complaint committee; keep a received copy. Committees may also accept verbal or online complaints.
3. Ask for interim protection if needed: a change of reporting line, shift or desk, or leave on pay.
4. The committee hears both sides confidentially and recommends action, from warning to dismissal.
5. If there is no committee, or it does not act, approach the local committee through the DC or UNO, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, or a lawyer.

Criminal and online routes

Serious conduct is also a crime. Words or gestures intended to insult a woman’s modesty fall under section 509 of the Penal Code; sexual assault falls under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000; online harassment and sharing of intimate images fall under the Cyber Protection Act 2026. A criminal complaint can run alongside the workplace process; one does not wait for the other. Our GD, FIR or complaint case guide explains where to file.

If you are punished for complaining

Dismissal, demotion or transfer because of a complaint is retaliation. A worker covered by the Labour Act can raise a grievance with the employer within 30 days and then go to the Labour Court under section 33 (see the limitation lookup for the timeline). Public servants can use the disciplinary rules and, where needed, a writ petition. Keep every letter and message from the date you complained.

For employers

Form the committee, publish the policy in Bangla and English, train managers, keep complaints confidential and act within the deadline. Failing to do so breaches the High Court guideline and, under the new laws, statutory duties, and it exposes the organisation to liability when a case reaches court or the media.