Anti-Discrimination Student Movement (ADSM) Chattogram unit’s former spokesperson Fatema Khanam Liza has announced her permanent departure from politics, citing a hostile environment for women within activist circles.

In an emotional live session on Friday night, Liza said, “Those I stood with in the July movement are now the ones shaping narratives that are destroying women. I can’t accept this anymore.”

Liza expressed disillusionment over what she described as betrayal from within. “We were supposed to fight against the student wing of the then ruling party, against fascism. But today, we are forced to fight our own people. That’s not a battle I can or want to fight,” she said.

She also alleged that women who participated in July uprising were subjected to online abuse, while local movement leaders in Chattogram failed to stand by them.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Liza questioned the future of women in politics, writing: “If a woman in this city dares to step into politics, I don’t know what awaits her. She may be ridiculed, humiliated, or conspired against—not just by opponents, but by her own comrades. I have experienced this far too often.”

She added that when women overcome social barriers, safety concerns, and stigma to join politics, they are often subjected to vulgarity and disrespect from within their own groups. “That environment becomes unlivable. That’s the most painful part.”

Liza was previously expelled from the movement on May 16 over allegations of drug use and “uncontrolled” behavior—charges she publicly denied. The expulsion was later withdrawn on May 25.