Serving survivors despite going unpaid for seven months
Graphics: Agamir Somoy
Every day, they stand beside women and children who have survived rape, abuse and violence. They arrange medical treatment for some, ensure legal assistance for others and help many regain the strength to overcome psychological trauma. While restoring hope in the lives of others is their daily responsibility, their own families are now struggling with severe financial hardship.
Officials and employees of the One Stop Crisis Center, Trauma Center and DNA Profiling Laboratory at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital have been living in dire conditions after going without salaries and allowances for seven months. Their families are facing extreme uncertainty. Store debts have piled up, house rent remains unpaid and many are struggling to provide food for their children. They have finally been compelled to begin a work stoppage in protest against unpaid salaries and uncertainty over their jobs.
The One Stop Crisis Center, Trauma Center and DNA Profiling Laboratory at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital operate under the Multi Sectoral Programme on Violence Against Women, under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. A total of 23 officials and employees are currently working under the project. They have not received salaries, allowances or any financial allocation for project operations for the past seven months.
In protest, officials and employees of the One Stop Crisis Center began a work stoppage on Tuesday morning, July 21, by hanging a banner in front of the hospital’s emergency department. Officials and employees of the Trauma Center and DNA Profiling Laboratory also joined the protest. Their program continued on Wednesday, demanding that the staff be brought under the government revenue payroll and that all outstanding salaries be paid. They announced that the movement will continue until their demands are met.
On Wednesday afternoon, this correspondent spoke with Sufia Khatun Shanta, a computer operator at the One Stop Crisis Center. Shanta, a mother of three, said she has continued performing her duties regularly despite not receiving any salary for seven months. However, the reality of supporting her family has left her helpless. The amount she owes local shops continues to increase as she struggles to cover food, education and other daily expenses for her children. She has also been unable to pay her house rent on time. Even so, she has never stepped away from her responsibility to serve women who have experienced violence.
The situation is the same for Meherunnesa, a legal officer at the One Stop Crisis Center. She has long been providing legal assistance to women and children who have survived abuse. She has helped countless survivors seek legal protection. Yet today, she herself has been forced to protest in order to receive what she is rightfully owed.
Reshma, a cleaner at the One Stop Crisis Center, is facing similar hardship. After going seven months without pay, she is struggling to meet her family’s expenses. Three other cleaners are also in the same situation. Altogether, about 10 officials and employees of the center have been enduring severe financial hardship for a prolonged period.
Meherunnesa, legal officer at the One Stop Crisis Center, said, “We have been working for a long time based on our appointment letters. Suddenly, we were informed that we would no longer be retained under the project. We were told recruitment would be carried out through outsourcing. Last June, we were called to Dhaka from across the country to sit for written examinations and interviews. Later, that entire process was canceled. Now we are being told that a new tender will be floated. The company that wins the contract will conduct interviews again. This has made our jobs completely uncertain.”
She added, “We have not received our salaries for seven months. When we spoke to the project director about our salaries, he told us that we are not his personnel. If we are not their personnel, then why are we being made to work? If we no longer have jobs, that should be stated clearly. Yet no clear answer is being given.”
The employees said this is not the first time salaries under the project have been suspended. In 2016, they went without pay for nine consecutive months. Those outstanding payments have still not been cleared. The latest term of the project ended in December 2025. Even after that, they were instructed in writing to continue operations, but no funds were allocated for personnel or operational expenses.
They alleged that the activities of the One Stop Crisis Center have recently been brought under an outsourcing system. Recruitment began through six firms, and employees from One Stop Crisis Centers across the country sat for examinations on June 10. However, the examinations were canceled just 15 days later. Since then, the future of their employment has become even more uncertain.
Since 2002, the One Stop Crisis Center at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital has been providing essential services to women and children who have survived violence. The center offers free medical treatment, medical certificates, legal assistance, psychosocial counseling and DNA testing. In particular, DNA testing is a vital part of the judicial process for rape survivors. Outside the center, such testing costs up to Tk 15,000. If the activities of the One Stop Crisis Center are disrupted, survivors of violence will be deprived of access to free medical treatment, legal assistance, forensic testing, trauma counseling and medical certificates.
Repeated calls were made to the mobile phone of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital Director Brig. Gen. P K M Masud-ul-Islam for comment, but he did not answer.
Hospital spokesperson Sheikh Shamim Ahmed said efforts are underway to determine what alternative arrangements can be made to ensure that services for patients receiving treatment at the One Stop Crisis Center are not disrupted. At the same time, attempts are being made to urgently communicate with the higher authorities regarding the employees’ outstanding salaries.
