Hundreds of specialised staff at Bangladesh’s One-Stop Crisis Centres and DNA labs have worked without salaries since January amid a controversial government shift to private outsourcing, leaving survivors of sexual violence without reliable support.

Bangladesh’s national system for responding to rape and gender-based violence is unravelling. Since 1 January 2026, 373 employees and caseworkers at One-Stop Crisis Centres (OCCs), crisis cells, and forensic DNA laboratories have received no salaries, even as they continue providing medical, legal, forensic and psychosocial services to survivors. The crisis stems from a government decision to outsource nearly all staff under a new project, leaving existing workers in limbo without a budget line for their pay.

The workers, many with more than two decades of specialised experience, have been instructed to keep services running until a private agency is selected and new personnel hired. Temporary stoppages have already occurred in major hospitals, raising fears that the country’s primary safety net for women and children facing sexual violence could collapse at a time when reported cases remain high.

A Network Built Over Two Decades Now in Jeopardy

The Multi-Sectoral Programme on Violence Against Women began in July 2000 as a joint initiative between the Bangladesh government and Denmark’s development agency, Danida. It established 14 hospital-based One-Stop Crisis Centres at medical college hospitals, 67 smaller crisis cells at district and upazila facilities, a National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and several divisional DNA screening labs. These centres offer integrated care: medical treatment, forensic evidence collection, police assistance, legal aid and trauma counselling under one roof.

By mid-2024, the 14 main OCCs alone had assisted more than 66,000 women and children. The fourth phase of the programme ended in June 2024. A revived project under the government’s annual development plan was approved to run from July 2025 until December 2029. The detailed project proposal, however, mandated that 547 of 555 positions be filled through private outsourcing agencies under the latest procurement rules. Existing staff, previously hired directly by the government, face the loss of their jobs.

Although funds exist for the outsourcing contracts, the Finance Division has refused to reappropriate that money to pay the current workforce. Officials say the previous project no longer exists, so no salary head is available for the 373 staff still working.

Families Pushed to the Brink of Destitution

Workers have written repeatedly to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. In letters dated between 27 January and 24 June 2026, they described families unable to pay rent, buy food or cover children’s school fees. A cleaner at a divisional OCC, earning Tk 17,000 a month (about US$140), said he had not received a single payment since January yet continued working out of loyalty to the women who seek help there. “I am not just a cleaner, but also an office assistant,” he told reporters, speaking anonymously. “Ask the women who come here if I have ever sought an extra taka as a bribe.”

A June letter signed by 84 workers noted that salaries for July to December 2025 had been paid through emergency budget reappropriation. From January onward, nothing arrived. Project officials raised the issue with the steering committee in February. A subsequent meeting chaired by the ministry secretary proposed using outsourcing funds, but the Finance Division rejected the transfer between budget heads.

Outsourcing Raises Alarm Over Privacy and Expertise

Existing staff have warned that handing sensitive work to private contractors risks leaking confidential survivor data, compromising forensic evidence and eroding specialised trauma and DNA expertise built over 25 years. The Outsourcing Service Procurement Policy 2025 allows exemptions for national security, confidentiality or public interest reasons, subject to Finance Division approval. Workers formally requested such an exemption in January; none has been granted.

Three tenders floated since January were cancelled over procedural flaws. A fresh tender issued on 10 September seeks an agency to supply programme officers, clinical psychologists and lawyers, among others. The recruitment process remains incomplete.

Project Director Iftekhar Hossain, a joint secretary, has publicly stated that the old project ended and the new one has no employees to pay. Yet a letter signed by him, obtained by OWSA, instructs all centres to maintain uninterrupted services under “special arrangements” until regular personnel are recruited. Ministry Secretary Dr Rowshan Ara Begum has declined to comment.

Temporary Stoppages Signal Growing Strain

On 19 July, staff at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital OCC staged a one-day stoppage. Similar actions followed at units in Rajshahi and Rangpur medical college hospitals. Survivors continued to receive basic medical examinations from regular hospital gynaecology staff, who are paid through the hospital budget. Legal, psychological and coordination support normally provided by OCC personnel was disrupted.

The timing is critical. Independent monitors recorded hundreds of rape cases in the first months of 2026 alone. Bangladesh Mahila Parishad documented 776 incidents of violence against women and girls in the first four months of the year. Ain o Salish Kendra and police data show rape cases rising sharply in recent years, with a significant proportion of victims under 18. Related reporting on trafficking of Bangladeshi women and broader patterns of gender-based violence underscores the demand for reliable crisis services.

International Implications for a Fragile Safety Net

For international observers, the episode highlights a recurring tension in development programming across South Asia: the shift from donor-supported, specialised public services to cost-driven outsourcing models. When the original Danida partnership ended, the government absorbed the centres into its development budget. The current procurement-driven approach prioritises private contracts over continuity of skilled personnel who handle highly sensitive survivor data and evidence that must stand up in court.

Comparable challenges have appeared elsewhere. One-Stop Centres in parts of India have also faced salary delays, forcing staff to borrow money simply to keep facilities open. In Bangladesh the stakes are higher because the OCC network is the primary institutional response to sexual violence in a country where conviction rates in such cases have historically remained extremely low.

Workers and rights advocates argue that specialised forensic and counselling roles should qualify for exemption from mandatory outsourcing. Without swift resolution of the salary arrears and a clear decision on whether experienced staff will be retained or absorbed, the centres risk losing the very expertise that made them effective. Survivors seeking medical care, police reporting support, DNA evidence collection and trauma counselling would then confront longer delays, reduced confidentiality and a fragmented system at the precise moment they need coordinated help most.

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs continues to insist that recruitment will be completed “shortly.” Until then, 373 unpaid workers remain the thin line between Bangladesh’s formal commitment to protect survivors of rape and the practical reality of a system under severe strain.