Birangana

Birangona () is the title awarded by the Government of Bangladesh to women raped during the Bangladesh Liberation War by the Pakistan army, Razakar paramilitaries, and their local collaborators.

== History == On 16 December 1971, Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan through the Bangladesh Liberation War. There was mass rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War, with an estimated 200,000-400,000 women raped by the Pakistani Army and their collaborators. On 22 December 1971 the Government of Bangladesh declared the title Birangona, or war-heroine for the women who had been raped during this time. President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman asked Bangladesh to "give due honour and dignity to the women oppressed by the Pakistani army" and called them his daughters. Yet, many of them committed suicide, a section of them left the country to work as servants abroad, and a great many were killed in the hands of the unskilled mid-wives trying to abort war babies. This prompted the government to set up seba sadans (service homes) to give them clinical support. Kendrio Mohila Punorbashon Songstha (Central Women Rehabilitation Organization) was established in January 1972 to rehabilitate these violated women with technical and humanitarian support from International Planned Parenthood, the International Abortion Research and Training Centre, and the Catholic Church; notable activists at the homes included the poet Sufia Kamal and the social worker Maleka Khan Later, the government provided them with vocational training and launched a campaign to get them married. This led to accusations that Bangladesh was trying to hide the Birangonas. The Birangonas have often been ostracised by society and their family members.