On August 2025, ahead of the Jahangirnagar University Central Students’ Union (JACSU) elections, female students reported widespread cyberbullying, slut-shaming, and harassment, deterring many from contesting. Despite women making up 48.8% of the 11,919 registered voters, their participation in candidacy has been minimal, with no women contesting top posts such as VP and more than 50 posts left without female nominees.
Sraboni Zaman Jyoti, a student leader of the July uprising, said she avoided the elections out of fear: “Cyberbullying and slut-shaming against women have increased after the July movement. I knew it would only intensify if I ran.” Other candidates described being personally targeted through bot-run pages like JU Update, Jaksu News, and JU Sarcasm.
Faculty and students alike have warned that this online abuse amounts to character assassination and is systematically silencing women. Student leaders, including Faiza Mehzabin and Maliha Namlah, described how harassment discouraged them and others from running, even when they had intended to.
The Election Commission has referred the matter to police cyber units and the BTRC, while the university has formed a 12-member committee to classify cyberbullying as “misconduct” under the Student Disciplinary Ordinance. But for many, the damage is already visible: a student body nearly half female is represented by only a quarter of the candidates, reinforcing fears that online misogyny is shaping political participation and erasing women’s voices.
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