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Screens of the 'Bolun' anonymous harassment reporting platform.
A digital platform named ‘Bolun’ has been launched to provide people with an opportunity to report experiences of harassment while keeping their identities confidential. The platform allows users to share their experiences in workplaces, educational institutions, public transport, hospitals, and other settings. It was launched on October 1 under the initiative of Rafiqul Islam Murad, a former student of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Gopalganj Science and Technology University (GSTU). According to information provided by the people behind the initiative, the platform currently lists more than 800 institutions and over 5,400 departments across 53 districts of Bangladesh.
‘Bolun’ is an online platform where individuals can report harassment and unwanted experiences at an institution without using their names, phone numbers, email addresses, or personal accounts. The service is available in both Bangla and English and is completely free of charge.
The platform covers not only workplaces but also universities and other educational institutions, buses, trains, launches, ride-sharing services, hospitals, shopping malls, government and private offices, and online spaces. Its primary objective is to bring to light experiences that often remain unreported because of fear or concerns about revealing one's identity.
Entrepreneur Rafiqul Islam Murad said the idea emerged from concerns about workplace conditions and safety before his wife joined her first job. According to him, while information about salaries and benefits is generally available before joining a job, there are limited reliable ways to determine whether an institution offers a safe and respectful working environment.
Explaining the philosophy behind the platform, Murad said, “In Bangladesh, you can find out about salary and increments before joining an institution. But the most fundamental question often remains unanswered: How safe, respected, and humanely treated will I be as a person in this institution? It was this question that inspired the journey of ‘Bolun’.”
The founders believe that one person's experience with an institution can help others make informed decisions and remain cautious. When multiple people's experiences regarding the same institution are collected in one place, they can provide a broader understanding of its overall environment. The initiative aims to encourage institutions to identify shortcomings in their working environments and take steps to address them.
However, reports submitted to the platform are not published directly. According to the team, an automated system initially identifies spam and bot activity, after which human moderators review each submission. Reports directly accusing a named individual are not accepted. Rather than reaching conclusions about an institution based on one or two reports, the platform analyzes patterns across multiple experiences to develop safety-related scores.
The founders emphasize that ‘Bolun’ is not intended to pass judgment on individuals or declare any institution guilty. Instead, its purpose is to bring people's experiences to light, raise awareness, and create opportunities for institutional accountability. At the same time, preventing misuse of the anonymous platform and tackling false reports remain important challenges.
A five-member volunteer team operates the initiative alongside its members' regular professional commitments. The platform does not charge users for its services. Although it provides an opportunity to learn about institutional environments, the absence of reports about an institution should not be interpreted as a guarantee of safety.
‘Bolun’ is not a government institution, nor is it a substitute for filing formal complaints with the police, courts, or other relevant authorities. The platform's management has stated that published information should be treated as personal experiences or allegations rather than established facts.
The founders hope that providing people with an opportunity to share their experiences without fear of revealing their identities will help them become better informed about different institutions before engaging with them. They also expect that institutions will be encouraged to make their environments safer and more respectful in response to the experiences shared through the platform.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/country/gstu-alumnus-launches-bolun-to-report-harassment-anonymously