Dhaka, Bangladesh - On 12 March 2026, UNODC held a national roundtable with newly onboarded members of the South Asia Women's Network of Gender Champions against Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling, bringing together participants from Bangladesh's police, judiciary, academia and the Ministry of Law.
The online session introduced members to the network's mission of strengthening women's roles in institutions responding to trafficking in persons (TIP) and smuggling of migrants (SOM). Trafficking in persons in particular remains a crime that disproportionately affects women and girls, who continue to represent the majority of victims globally. Notably, several Bangladesh members had already participated in the network's first South Asia chapter event earlier in the month, a seminar on the links between corruption and human trafficking, marking an active start to their engagement.
Discussion surfaced challenges familiar across the region: low case filing rates relative to actual incidents and the complications of cross-border investigations. Participants also highlighted that women in Bangladesh now make up approximately 9 per cent of police officers - a significant rise from under 2 per cent a decade earlier, largely driven by advocacy from the Bangladesh Police Women's Network - though members agreed that further progress remains essential, particularly in ensuring women are present in operational and investigative roles.
From the judiciary, according to the Dhaka Tribune, 9 out of 97 High Court Division judges are women, while 677 out of 2,233 subordinate court judges are female - roughly 30 per cent. Participants called for specialist training for judges presiding over the dedicated Trafficking in Persons tribunals. There was also strong appetite for integrating awareness of human trafficking and migrant smuggling into university curricula, with one member committing to organise a workshop at her institution later in 2026.
The roundtable will feed directly into the network's first Roadmap to Action, to be presented at the inaugural South Asia advisory board meeting planned for Q2 2026.
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The project is funded by the European Union.
For more information about “Preventing and Addressing Trafficking in Human Beings and the Smuggling of Migrants in South Asia”, please contact:
Martin Reeve (Mr.), Project Coordinator
martin.reeve@un.org
