Background Child maltreatment (CM) is a public health problem and is recognized as a huge barrier for child development. Most of the research and definitions on CM are from the perspective of high‐income western countries. Because no major studies have been conducted on CM in Bangladesh, the aim of the current study was to explore the experiences of and perceptions on CM in school‐age children in rural and urban Bangladesh in order to understand maltreatment in a local context and from a child perspective. Methods Semistructured individual interviews with 24 children (13 boys and 11 girls), between the ages of 9 and 13 years of which 11 were schoolgoing and 13 non‐schoolgoing, were conducted during July 2013 and analysed according to qualitative content analysis. Results CM was a common and painful experience with serious physical and emotional consequences but highly accepted by the society. Vulnerable groups were especially young children, girls, and poor children. The children's voices were not heard due to their low status and low position in their families, schools, and working places. The main theme that emerged in the analysis was children's subordination, which permeated the five categories: (a) perception of children's situation in society, (b) understanding children's development and needs, (c) CM associated to school achievement, (d) negative impact of CM, and (e) emotional responses. Conclusions Different kinds of abuse are obviously common in Bangladesh, and the schools do not follow the law from 2011 prohibiting corporal punishment at school. The society has to take further steps to live up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified already in 1990, to protect the Bangladeshi children from CM.