Bangladesh is experiencing an epidemic of child rape. Discrimination based on patriarchal philosophies, inadequate rape laws, inadequate policies to address child rape, a conservative criminal justice system, and a conventional judicial environment has culminated in injustice for victims. Laws exist that require severe punishments; however, child rape has not been satisfactorily prevented. Societal norms, stigma, political pressure, money, power, and the critical process of the justice system make it extraordinarily difficult for victims to receive justice. This article describes the reasons why men rape children, including offenders’ psychological conditions and the advantages that men have over the weaker in the criminal justice system, enjoying impunity. While attempting to understand the reasons broadly, statistical data show that the reporting of such crimes has been increasing, but this does not genuinely represent the actual number of crimes committed. The article focuses on social phenomena associated with child rape culture and identifies reasons why crimes are not reported. An in-depth discussion of inappropriate laws for child rape and of the loopholes in these laws demonstrates the hardship that victims face in their fight for justice. Finally, social and legal recommendations for the prevention of child rape are highlighted.

Ashley Smith’s experience in the adult prison system flowed from certain of its systemic features. This article considers whether and how it is possible to reconcile the basic commitments of sentencing law, including the legal aims of punishment, with that systemic portrait. The youth court that ordered Smith’s transfer to adult custody relied upon an idealized conception of adult imprisonment, just as ordinary adult sentencing courts do. Judges purport to stipulate the severity of punishment, but tend not to consider how prison conditions will shape the severity of the sanction. Even where a particular defendant is likely to face unique difficulties in custody, courts tend to take notice in limited and rare ways. Smith’s experience in adult custody challenges us to more clearly identify, and to consider extending, doctrinal sentencing rules that represent a judicial concern with the effects and prospects of imprisonment in particular cases.