Under the guise of satire, sexually harassing content targeting women is being systematically spread on social media. An analysis by fact-checking organisation Dismislab has found that at least five Facebook pages are deliberately disseminating such content. The primary targets of these posts are successful and well-known women from various fields.
Dismislab analysed more than 4,000 posts from these pages over a period of four and a half months—from 1 October last year to 15 February this year. According to the organisation, a significant number of posts about women contained sexually aggressive language. To create confusion, these pages deliberately mimic the names, logos, and presentation styles of mainstream news media.
Dismislab identified a consistent pattern across posts from the five pages. On average, at least one out of every four posts about women contained multiple instances of sexually aggressive or harassing language. In some cases, identical photocards were posted across multiple pages on the same day.
‘66pc Contained Gender-Based Slurs’
Among the posts analysed, 23 per cent were about women. Of these, 28 per cent were identified as sexually aggressive or harassing.
These included, abusive and derogatory remarks based on gender and sexual identity, general insults and offensive language, ideological attacks and belittling, derogatory comments about physical appearance or clothing.
All five Facebook pages used these methods of attack to varying degrees. According to Dismislab researchers, these are not isolated incidents but rather indicate a sustained pattern of gender-based harassment.
The analysis found that among 277 harassing photocards, 66 per cent contained gender- or sexuality-based slurs, 25 per cent involved general insults, 9 per cent included ideological attacks or mockery of women’s bodies and clothing.
During the period of analysis, actress Shabnam Faria and Dhaka University teacher Shehreen Amin Bhuiyan Monami were among the most frequently targeted individuals.
Out of the 277 abusive photocards analysed by Dismislab, 161 were centred on actresses, models, or other media personalities. Actress Pori Moni alone was featured in 62 such photocards.
Political figures were not spared either. A total of 103 posts targeted political personalities, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, late former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, former adviser to the interim government Syeda Rizwana Hasan, and several members of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU).
Among political figures, Tasnim Jara—former leader of the National Citizens Party (NCP) and an independent candidate in the 13th national election—was the most targeted, with 17 photocards created about her.
Others targeted included Bangladesh Cricket Board director Rubaba Dowla and writer Taslima Nasrin.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, victim Shehreen Amin Bhuiyan Monami said that one of the main objectives of such attacks is to silence women’s voices and reduce their visibility in public spaces.
This is not merely a personal attack, she said. It is a strategy to shrink women’s social and political presence.
She also noted that women are often demeaned as a way to suppress dissenting views. A significant portion of these attacks involves “objectification”—shifting focus from a woman’s opinion to her body, clothing, or personal life, thereby distracting from the actual issue. This ultimately diminishes the importance of her voice in public discourse.
BM Mainul Hossain, director of the Institute of Information Technology at Dhaka University, said that harassment of women online—whether in the name of satire or anything else—is unacceptable.
He told Prothom Alo that the pursuit of likes, views, and shares is driving a growing moral decline on social media. To prevent such incidents, he emphasised that relevant government agencies must take prompt and effective action.