Female students and working women in the capital are facing increasing accommodation costs, insecurity, and harassment as limited hostel facilities force many to depend on expensive and poorly regulated private messes and hostels.

A second-year student of Begum Badrunnesa Government Girls’ College shared a distressing experience after returning from an educational trip to Cox’s Bazar.

Due to traffic delays, she reached Dhaka around midnight but was denied entry to her mess as the manager enforced a “night curfew” rule. With no relatives or accommodation in the city, she was forced to wait on the street until a tenant intervened and helped her gain entry.

Breaking down in tears, she described the fear and helplessness of having nowhere to go in the middle of the night.

She said she has had to change her accommodation three times so far, highlighting the insecurity faced by students living away from home in Dhaka.

A female bank officer living in a private hostel in Purbra Rajabazar stays in a small single room that was originally a makeshift kitchen converted into accommodation. She pays around Tk 15,000 per month for rent and living expenses.

Students from both public and private institutions said most colleges and universities lack adequate residential hostels, forcing them to live in private messes or shared accommodation.

They also noted that renting sublet rooms in private homes is often unsafe, leaving private hostels and messes as the only available option despite concerns over safety and cost.

One student described private hostels as a system driven by high costs and continuous exploitation.

Working women said they frequently struggle to find safe housing for single tenants and are compelled to rely on private hostels or sublet arrangements. The situation becomes especially difficult for those working night shifts, with some reportedly leaving jobs because of these challenges.

Professor Anima Haque from the Department of Women and Gender Studies at the University of Dhaka said many women coming from rural areas to study or work in Dhaka face severe accommodation problems.

She stressed that the government should ensure proper housing facilities so women are not left without safe accommodation, while private institutions should also take responsibility for arranging housing for their employees.

Dhaka has only a limited number of hostels for working women, with just over 1,000 beds available in four such facilities.

According to a representative of a hostel owners’ association, there are around 1,000 private hostels in the city, most of which cater to women. While government hostels are comparatively affordable, private hostels are several times more expensive, and none allow residents to stay with children.

In one example, a five-room apartment near Begum Badrunnesa Government Girls’ College houses 20 female students, each paying Tk 5,000 in rent in addition to food costs.

A first-year student of the University of Dhaka living there after failing to secure a dormitory seat said the food quality is poor, rules are strict, and residents must return by 10 PM. She also alleged that even minor complaints can lead to threats of eviction.

Another female student said she often tolerates poor conditions in private hostels out of fear of losing accommodation.

She added that securing a dormitory seat at a college sometimes requires additional expenses and political involvement or compulsory participation in events, leaving private messes as the only option for many students.

Overall, female students expressed dissatisfaction with the environment and food quality in private women’s hostels across areas such as Farmgate, Dhanmondi, Lalmatia, and Siddheswari, where many hostels are run individually without proper oversight.

The Hostel Owners Association, which has 41 members, claimed that owners prioritize residents’ safety and try to maintain food quality and living standards, although complaints still exist against some hostels.

A survey found that there are more than 6 million working women in urban Bangladesh, with a large number living in Dhaka and surrounding areas.

Under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, only four government hostels for working women operate in the capital — located in Nilkhet, Mirpur, Khilgaon, and Bailey Road — with a combined capacity of just 1,086 seats.

Demand far exceeds supply, especially at the Nilkhet hostel, where only a few seats become vacant each month despite hundreds of pending applications. Some women reportedly require high-level recommendations to secure accommodation.

One NGO worker reportedly left her job after failing to obtain a hostel seat, as she struggled to live alone in Dhaka.

A ministry official acknowledged that existing facilities are inadequate compared to demand and said expansion work is underway to add 245 seats in Mirpur and 368 in Nilkhet.

Senior researcher Nazneen Ahmed of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies said several initiatives have been undertaken for women’s empowerment and development since the current government assumed office.

However, she emphasized that more hostel facilities must be established to support women’s advancement.

She also suggested that the private sector should develop one-room apartment housing projects for women, while the government could provide subsidies if necessary to make such initiatives more accessible and affordable.