Consent Education: The Lesson Bangladesh Cannot Ignore 

Published on: June 2, 2026

The recent rape and murder of young Ramisa has driven the entire nation into shock. Everyone spent days wondering how a human being could commit something so horrible against a child who was not even eight years old. People protested against this incident, demanded justice and expressed their grief along with anger. But after the emotions slowly faded, one question continued to stay in mind: why do these crimes keep happening so frequently in this country?

One of the major reasons is that Bangladesh still fails to properly educate young people about respect, consent and healthy interactions between men and women. We talk about punishments after crimes happen so often, however, we rarely focus on the mindset that allows these crimes to happen in the very first place.

Young people are supposed to be fueled up to change the perception of our society, but we are not even on the right track to build our youth as the torchbearers of evolution. Unhealthy attitudes toward women are extremely normalised among people from a very early age. In educational institutions, workplaces and even online spaces, disrespectful comments, harassment and objectification of women are often seen as common nature or harmless sarcasm.

Most teenagers grow up in environments where they are never seriously taught how to respect women. Instead of educating our young minds properly, our system blames women for their own shortcomings.

Conversations about consent are almost absent from our education system. Students spend years memorising academic subjects, but very few educational institutions teach them what consent actually means. We grow up without knowing that another person’s body, comfort and boundaries must always be respected. Consent means an adult agreeing willingly without fear, pressure, manipulation or any force. It is a basic concept of humanity, yet students never have a proper learning about this during their entire academic life.

These significant concepts are treated as embarrassing or inappropriate, and teenagers often learn about relationships and sexuality from random internet content or equally uninformed sources. We are yet to witness these important inclusions in our current curriculum.

Additionally, people still fail to understand a very basic moral principle: no individual has the right to harm another person to satisfy his own sexual desires. Yet some people grow up with a dangerous sense of entitlement, believing their desires matter more than another person’s dignity or freedom. This becomes even worse in societies where moral education is weak.

Our system teaches females how to protect themselves instead of educating males how to behave responsibly. So often, girls are told where to go and how to stay safe. Meanwhile, boys barely receive proper ethical guidance regarding respect, accountability and boundaries. This imbalance reflects a deeper failure within both society and our education system.

However, this circumstance can be solved as well. Many countries once struggled with similar challenges, but improved through long-term education and awareness. For instance, Sweden introduced comprehensive education regarding consent, gender respect, emotional awareness and personal boundaries from an early age. These discussions are normalised in educational institutions instead of being treated as taboo. Over time, it did not eliminate every crime, but it helped massively to improve social conditions.

Bangladesh can also improve in the near future if it starts addressing these honestly. The curriculum should introduce age-appropriate education on consent, respectful interaction, and basic human rights. Parents should create environments where children can express themselves freely. Eventually, this will force society and its problematic notions to change.

The death of children like Ramisa should influence us to reflect on the kind of society we are building. Chastising criminals after crimes happen is surely important, but preventing future crimes is more important. If we do not wipe out the crimes from their roots, then these tragedies may continue repeating themselves.

These important moral guidelines should not remain confined to one chapter or subject, through which students just want to score higher grades. The concept of consent, mutual respect and basic human rights should be integrated among all the teenagers with a serious vision of a better society to live in.

We must ensure the accountability of our upcoming offspring to create a safe environment for both genders. A better future will not come from temporary outrage alone but from raising a generation that understands that no desire or need can ever justify harming another person. Until we begin educating young minds properly, a true social society will remain difficult to achieve.