Surviving Without Support: A Multi‐Actor Qualitative Study of Domestic Violence Response Pathways in Bangladesh

Abstract

Despite the presence of legal protections and civil society interventions, women experiencing domestic violence in Bangladesh often remain in unsafe conditions over extended periods. Existing research has documented stigma, reporting gaps, social acceptance of violence, and individual‐level barriers to help‐seeking. This study examines how survivors and frontline actors navigate fragmented social welfare, legal, and informal support systems, focusing on where and how support pathways stall or break down over time. Drawing on a qualitative, multi‐actor design, the study is based on in‐depth interviews with 15 participants, including women with lived experience of domestic violence, family respondents, non‐governmental organization workers, and legal and police actors in Bangladesh. Data were analyzed thematically with attention to sequencing of support‐seeking and decision‐making under constraint. Findings show that responses unfold through recurrent, partial, and time‐bound interventions rather than linear resolution, shaped by economic precarity, informal mediation without enforcement capacity, conditional NGO assistance, and high procedural and evidentiary thresholds within formal legal systems. Survivors' endurance, withdrawal, and re‐engagement emerge as strategic responses to cumulative risks rather than as passive acceptance. The study highlights how misaligned welfare and protection arrangements may stabilize unsafe conditions, underscoring the need for integrated social work and policy responses.