How sanctions really can improve respect for human rights

THERE ARE good reasons why women are less likely than men to be at the front of student-led protests making a stand against the regime of Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Bangladesh’s steely prime minister, which is wielding truncheons and a patronage system based on graft to extend its 13 years in power. Young men picked up by the security forces can expect a beating. Young women fear being raped. In a conservative Muslim country, the mere fact that a woman has entered a police station or jail unescorted generates a special stigma. Fiancés’ families often cancel planned weddings. Reza Kibria, a former IMF official trying to turn student protests into a political opposition, describes his unexpected role as matchmaker for women caught up in the security forces’ dragnet.