Women in Bangladesh have been subjected to exploitation and negligence for decades. In a society, which is basically male dominated, women, have always been kept oppressed by religious fanaticism, superstition, oppression and various discrimination. Their merit and labor have only been recognized in domestic lore. Though lately, Bangladesh has realized that ‘empowerment of women’ is a necessary condition for economic development to keep pace with the world. In the international arena Bangladesh ratified the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1984, however, with some ‘reservations’. Thus, my paper will be on the following lines-
· Identifying the reservations of Bangladesh on CEDAW provisions;
· Stating official reasons for such reservations;
· Providing logical arguments against such reservations;
· Describing governmental and non-governmental efforts taken so far to implement CEDAW within Bangladesh; and
· Evaluating critically the progress in Bangladesh after the CEDAW ratification.
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The author is greatly indebted to Prof. Rafiqul Islam, Macquarie University, Prof. Dimity Kingsford Smith, Monash University and Mr Aman-ud-Dowla, Journalist for comments on the draft of this paper. Special thanks are due to Faculty of Law, Monash University and Monash Asia Institute for their encouragement and support all along. The usual disclaimer applies.
“CEDAW and the Women’s Rights in Bangladesh - a promised Silver Lining”
-Tureen Afroz**
Introduction
At times I wonder when Rousseau claimed “Man is born free”, did he necessarily preclude women! Or my words echo like those of Shelley when he poses, “Can man be free if woman be a slave?” My heart bleeds when I see that women had to travel all the way from Mexico in 1975 to Copenhagen in 1980, to Nairobi in 1985 and then to Beijing in 1995 to voice against “gender discrimination” and to demand equality.
On December 18, 1979, the United Nations adopted CEDAW- the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. It is also known as the “Women's Convention” or the “Women's Bill of Rights”. The Convention is the most comprehensive and detailed international agreement, which seeks the advancement of women. It establishes rights for women in areas not previously subject to international standards. The Convention entered into force as an International Treaty on September 3, 1981. The Convention as of May 31, 2002, has 168 states parties.
The Convention provides a universal definition of discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to eliminate such discrimination. The Convention defines discrimination against women as, “… any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.”
In other words, those who discriminate on the basis of sex can now no longer claim that no clear definition of ‘discrimination against women’ exists. The Convention also calls for actions in nearly every field of human endeavour: politics, law, employment, education, health care, commercial transactions and domestic relations. Moreover, the Convention establishes a Committee to review periodically the progress being made by its adherents.
CEDAW consists of a preamble and 30 articles and it can be divided into following three broad categories:
1. Article 1 to Article 16: ensuring equality between men and women.
2. Article 17 to Article 22: UN CEDAW Committee and its mandate.
3. Article 23 to Article 30: administration of the treaty.
By accepting the Convention, States parties commit themselves to undertake a series of measures, including legislation and temporary measures, to end discrimination against women in all forms. States parties should ensure in every sphere of life, that women enjoy all the human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Countries that has ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations. It may be mentioned that the Convention permits ratification subject to reservations, provided that the reservations are not incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention.
Recently, on December 22, 2000 the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW Convention entered into force. States which ratify the Optional Protocol recognize the competence of the CEDAW Committee – (a) to consider petitions from individual woman or groups of women who have exhausted all national remedies through a ‘communication procedure’; and (b) to conduct inquiries into grave or systematic violations of the CEDAW Convention through an ‘inquiry procedure’.
Bangladesh Scenario
The Government of Bangladesh ratified the CEDAW on November 6, 1984. However, at the time of ratification, the Government of Bangladesh made reservations to a number of provisions of the Convention. These included:
a. Article 2 : policy measures.
b. Article 13(a) : equality as to the right to family benefits.
c. Article 16(1)(c) : equal rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution.
d. Article 16(1)(f) : equal rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children etc.
The Government of Bangladesh has put forward the following reasons for such reservations:
a) Bangladesh is a Muslim populated country. The prevalent Muslim Personal Laws are essentially based upon Shariah Laws, which in turn were formulated in light of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Therefore, the provisions of personal law could not be changed so easily as required by the Convention as they were based on religion.
b) In addition, in the second periodic report of Bangladesh, it was mentioned that it would not be easy to modify Hindu Personal Laws because of the complex religious issues involved.
c) With particular regard to Article 2, the Government of Bangladesh advocated that the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh had already granted equal rights to women in all spheres of life. Therefore, there is no need to ratify Article 2 of the Convention as it had already been reflected in the country's Constitution.
Bangladesh has recently withdrawn reservations to Article 13(a) (equality as to the right to family benefits) and Article 16(1)(f) (equal rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children etc.) of the Convention. In the international arena, Bangladesh has proudly declared so in its combined third and fourth periodic reports.
The CEDAW Committee welcomed the Government's decision to withdraw such reservations. However, the remaining reservations (as to Article 2 and Article 16(1)(c) of the Convention) were considered by the Committee at its July 1997 session to be an important factor affecting implementation of the Convention, particularly with regard to the reservation to Article 2, since it is fundamental and a core provision of the convention.
It may be mentioned that Bangladesh signed and ratified the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW Convention on September 6, 2000, which was entered into force on December 22, 2000. However, the Government of Bangladesh, in accordance with Article 10(1) of the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW Convention, put reservations to Articles 8 and 9 of the same Protocol (involving the competence of the CEDAW Committee to conduct inquiries into grave or systematic violations of the CEDAW Convention through an ‘inquiry procedure’).
Arguments Against Such Reservations
Articles 2 and 16 are considered by the CEDAW Committee to be core provisions of the Convention. The Committee holds the view that Article 2 is central to the objects and purpose of the Convention. States parties, which ratify the Convention do so because they agree that discrimination against women in all its forms should be condemned and that the strategies set out in Article 2, subparagraphs (a) to (g), should be implemented by States parties to eliminate it.
The CEDAW Committee also remains convinced that reservations to Article 16, including its subparagraph (1)(c) , whether lodged for national, traditional, religious or cultural reasons, are incompatible with the Convention and therefore, impermissible and should be reviewed and modified or withdrawn.
Moreover, the Government of Bangladesh has been criticized both internally and externally for making such reservations to CEDAW. In the international arena, a few countries including West Germany, Netherlands, Mexico and Sweden, entered objections to the abovementioned reservations, specifically citing them as going against to the “object and purpose of the Convention”.
A major concern of Sweden in particular, and also of Mexico is in relation to the possibility that the basic nature of international law will be undermined by States which enter into contractual obligations in the form of multicultural conventions, and then reserve their right not to implement certain provisions of those conventions which arguably go to the heart and focus of the obligation as a whole.
The abovementioned reservations to CEDAW are in conflict with the ‘impermissibility principle’ contained in the Article 19 of the Vienna convention on the Law of Treaties. Article 28(2) of CEDAW Convention adopts this ‘impermissibility principle’ and reads as follows:
“A reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of the present Convention shall not be permitted.”
Bangladesh is a signatory to the Charter of the United Nations. Therefore, under Article 55(c) of the Charter, Bangladesh is to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to, inter alia, sex. Not only that, Bangladesh has also pledged itself under an international legal obligation to ensure ‘gender equality’ and to combat ‘discrimination against women’, pursuant to Article 56 of the Charter of the United Nations.
Also, Bangladesh is required to ensure equal rights between men and women under the ILO Convention. Therefore, such reservations to CEDAW put Bangladesh on a critical threshold in its international obligations.
Ruminating the past, it can be found that the nation of Bangladesh was born on the very premise of ensuring equality amongst all its citizens. The essence of the pre-independence grievance of the Bangladeshis, as encapsulated in the 6 point program enunciated by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman before independence, was precisely that there should not be any discrimination, created by the state machinery towards the treatment of it's citizens, thereby creating different class of citizens etc. Accordingly, the cherished Constitution of the Bangladeshis, guarantees such equal protection of the law for all its citizens and further guarantees that the State shall not discriminate any citizen on the ground of gender . If that is so, then there should not be any technical inconsistency for Bangladesh in ratifying Article 2 of the Convention.
Article 16(c) of the Convention is of particular importance to Bangladesh. According to the prevalent laws in Bangladesh, a man is legally allowed to keep more than one wife (provided certain procedural conditions are met) , however, a woman cannot. Therefore, women in Bangladesh simply do not enjoy the same rights and responsibilities regarding marriage and at its dissolution. Not only that, polygamy is considered as one of the main reasons for overpopulation in Bangladesh. Therefore, as a matter of national policy, the Government should enact such law that will help to reduce the country's high population growth. In the circumstances, it is very unfortunate that the Government of Bangladesh rather decided to make reservation to Article 16(1)(c) of the Convention, which is unreasonable and simply serves wishes of patriarchal society of Bangladesh.
As far as complying with Shariah Laws is concerned, one has to remember that Bangladesh is not the only Muslim country in the world. There are other Muslim countries in the world that did not put any reservation to CEDAW provisions in the name of Shariah Laws. Indonesia, Libya, Zambia, Yemen, Gaben, Maldives, Nigeria, Benin are good examples of this fact. Muslim country like Tunisia even went ahead with abolishing polygamy altogether from their society by enacting appropriate domestic laws.
A fact quite often ignored is that, though mainly Muslim dominated, Bangladesh does have people of other religions. These reservations, in the name of Shariah Laws, only restrict the rights of Muslim women. The rights of non-Muslim women are, therefore, presumed to be unaffected by such reservations and thus, they can enjoy all the provisions of CEDAW (provided necessary changes are made to their own personal laws). This creates discrimination among women themselves on the basis of religion, which is again contrary to CEDAW.
t is strongly stated that the Government of Bangladesh has failed miserably to give any concrete explanation as to how these reserved provisions of CEDAW are against the Shariah Laws. At this point, it is very important to distinguish between the source of a law and the law itself. The Holy Quran is the main source of Shariah Laws. The role and purpose of the source is to convey an eternal message through revelations, paradigm, precepts and historic illustrations. But if the source is confused with the results, the illustrations and precept with immutability, it will then in effect bring to obstruct the free flow of the main source, which is made to flush through the time in eternity. Many even strongly deny to believe that the discrimination between men and women is, by any way, sanctioned by religion.
Ali in his commentary on the Holy Quran stated:
“God’s purpose is eternal, and His plan is perfect but man's intelligence is limited at its very best, in the same individual it grows and declines according to the strength of his powers and the width of his experience. There is thus no finality in human interpretation.”
It is very interesting to note that in the past, the Government of Bangladesh has essentially enacted a number of laws and regulations which are not in conformity with the Shariah Laws, such as: Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961, amended in 1986; Marriage and Divorce Registration Act 1974; the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980, amended in 1986; the Cruelty to Women (Deterrent Punishment) Act of 1983; Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, amended in 1984, the Anti-terrorism Ordinance of 1992, Family Courts Ordinance of 1985 and so on. Similarly, Farida Akhtar, the well-known women's rights activist of Bangladesh, points out that even the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh which assures gender equality, has co-existed with the Shariah Laws even though they contradict each other on many grounds.
More interestingly, about 95% of the laws prevalent in today’s Bangladesh is based upon European Civil Laws. Only the personal laws, which are discriminatory towards women, are based on Shariah Laws. Therefore, a valid question can be raised as to why the Shariah Laws be a barrier at all in ratifying the abovementioned reserved provisions of the Convention.
It seems that the Government of Bangladesh unnecessarily overemphasised the fact that ratifying those reserved provisions would be an assault to Muslim sentiments. Of course, if ratified, there will be resistance from certain corner of the society, as it is always the case in any field of state policy whenever any new changes are brought in, the Government, nevertheless, will have to move forward with ensuring equality between men and women to realize the fruits of CEDAW. Salma Khan, Chairperson of the UN CEDAW Committee states that :
“There is no doubt that in doing so (i.e. withdrawing the reservations) some obstacles must be faced, but the Government and all concerned have to move forward with firm determination.”
Implementation of CEDAW in Bangladesh
The CEDAW activities in Bangladesh have so far been undertaken under two broad categories, namely: (1) CEDAW activities at the initiative of the Government. (2) CEDAW activities undertaken by the non-government organisations (NGOs).
Governmental Initiative
Bangladesh Government has submitted its first periodic report in 1986 and the UN CEDAW Committee considered it in 1987. Similarly, the second periodic report was submitted in 1990 but was considered in January, 1993. The third and the fourth periodic reports were jointly considered in July 1997. Bangladesh's fifth periodic report was due on December 6, 2001 but unfortunately has not yet been submitted to the CEDAW Committee. So far, the Government of Bangladesh has taken a number of steps to implement CEDAW within Bangladesh. These include: (a) Arranging workshops to discuss various issues regarding CEDAW. The first workshop was held on 1 June, 1994. Generally, members of both governmental and non-governmental organisations attend these workshops. (b) Enacting domestic laws to realise the goal of CEDAW, such as –
· Child Marriage Restraint Act (Amendment Ordinance 1984) which raises the marriage age of women from 16 to 18 years and of men from 18 to 21 years. It also provides punishment for marrying a girl child.
· The Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961 (Amended in 1985) which provides for increased punishment in cases of polygamy and divorce in violation of the statutory provisions.
· The Penal Code (Second Amendment Ordinance) which provides for capital punishment for causing grievous injuries to victims of acid throwing.
· The Dowry Prohibition Act 1980 (Amended in 1986) which has made the custom of dowry an offence, punishable by fine and imprisonment.
· Family Court Ordinance 1985 which deals with cases of marriage, divorce, maintenance, guardianship and custody of children. It has also provided opportunity for speedy disposal of such cases at a much lesser expense which benefits women.
· Anti-Terrorism Ordinance 1992 which provided punishment for all sorts of terrorism including teasing or abducting women. Special tribunals were set up in each district so that disposal of cases could be completed within a short period of time.
· Women and Children Anti-oppression Act 2000 which repeals the earlier Oppression of Women and Children (Special Provision) Act 1995 and provides capital punishment and life imprisonment for women and child bashing.
· The Acid Crimes Control Act 2001 (still at bill stage) which proposes capital punishment for deaths in acid attacks and speedy trial of the offenders. It also provides that any negligence in investigation into an incident of acid throwing would also be a punishable offence.
· The Acid Control Act 2002 (still at bill stage) which seeks the formation of a 15-member ‘National Acid Control Council’ with its units in all districts. The proposed Council would recommend actions for production, import, selling, use, transportation and storing of acid. It will also formulate policies for checking and attacks, treatment and rehabilitation of the victims and creating mass awareness about the consequence of acid crimes.
c) The Directorate of Women Affairs was established in 1984 and it was upgraded into a Department in 1990. The concerned Ministry included child-related affairs in 1994 and the Ministry was renamed as the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. National Training and Development Academy for Women, Working Women's Hostel, Day Care Centre, Agricultural Training Centre for Women and Begum Rokeya Training Centre have been established under the department of Women Affairs.
(d) The Central Cell for the Prevention of Repression on Women and Children has been established in the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. Similar cells have been established in the Department of Women Affairs and Jatiyo Mahila Shangstha (National Women Organisation) for the same purpose. Committees have been formed at district, thana and union levels to prevent oppression on women.
(e) The Government set up a 15 member Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee headed by the Minister of State for Women and Children Affairs in 1994. The responsibility of the Committee is to monitor and review the activities of the Central Cell and to take remedial measures.
(f) In addition, a 44 member National Council for Women Development, headed by the Prime Minister, was formed to review matters related to women's socio-economic activities, policy-making and development activity at the national level.
(g) On 16 August, 1996, for the first time a 'Women Investigation Centre' was established at Mirpur, Dhaka. The main objective of this centre is to investigate complaints and cases involving violence against women. Currently 4 female sub-inspectors, 2 female assistant sub-inspectors and 8 female constables are employed at this centre. The current government has further plan to establish similar women investigation centres in 3 other Metropolitan Divisions of Dhaka.
(h) The Government has also taken steps to establish 'special tribunal' in every district to deal with the cases of ‘violence’ against women and children. Till date, such tribunals have been established in 10 districts, namely, Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Jessore, Rangpur, Comilla, Mymensingh and Kushtia. Pending the establishment of such tribunals in other 61 districts, the government has formed Legal Aid Committee (in each of these districts) to provide legal assistance to the victims of violence.
(i) On 8 March, 1997 the Government of Bangladesh has declared a 14 point National Women Development Policy. The Government has expressed its clear intention to include such policies in the next five-year plan of the country. Accordingly, promoting gender equality and ‘realising the constitutional goal of equality between all citizens – women and men’ was made a major aim of the Fifth Development Plan (1997-2002). Efforts focussed on main-streaming gender in all levels of the government’s development work. As such, Ministries were made responsible for implementing gender concerns within their respective sectors.
Non-Governmental Initiative
A large number of national and international NGOs are presently working in Bangladesh and many of them are involved in gender-specific programs to benefit women. The NGOs have unequivocally stressed the need for establishing equal rights of women in all spheres of life and have also emphasized the imperative of women’s participation in the development of the country.
Beijing NGO Forum '95 was established as the National Preparation Committee on the eve of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing from 4-15 September in 1995. Later under the said Forum, a CEDAW sub-committee was established.
CEDAW sub-committee in co-operation with ADAB, USHA-GDF and a Workshop Sub-Committee has been arranging a series of Grass-root Level Workshops in rural Bangladesh. These workshops are mainly participated by the field workers of different NGOs, members of development agencies, representatives of women organisations, and grass-root level opinion leaders such as primary teachers, cultural activists, lawyers and researchers. CEDAW sub-committee also arranged a one-day long National Conference on 13 August 1995. The Members of The Parliament, the renowned political leaders, high level governmental and NGO officers, journalists and intellectuals took part in the said National Conference and came up with a number of suggestions to implement CEDAW in Bangladesh.
Besides, a number of non-governmental organisations have incorporated CEDAW objectives in their ongoing programs of action. These include, ADAB (Association of Development Agencies of Bangladesh); CEDAW Forum, Bangladesh; BMP (Bangladesh Mahila Parishad); Naripakkha; Women for Women; Bangladesh Nari Pragati Shangha; GDF (Gender Relations and Development Forum); Project five-O; Steps Towards Development; Institute for Development Studies; Bangladesh Women’s Health Coalition; BRAC Gender Resource Centre; Narigrantha Prabartana; Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA) and Women Judge's Association. Other than arranging various CEDAW related workshops, rallies, follow-up meetings, and creating mass-awareness on CEDAW, a few of the NGOs also publish reports on the achievement and failure of implementation of CEDAW in Bangladesh. Two of such reports are worth mentioning here:
(i) “Alternative report on United Nations Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women in Bangladesh” - prepared and published by ADAB in 1992; and
(ii) “CEDAW and the Status of Women” – prepared by Naripakkha in 1992.
Women’s Rights in Bangladesh – a critical overview in light of the CEDAW standards
Women of Bangladesh are still chained to poverty, unequal access to education, training, health care and property, physical violence and mental torture, fundamentalist and discriminatory social and religious norms and culture. Even worse is the women’s lack of awareness about their rights, both among educated and un-educated portion of female population of Bangladesh. Let us examine how far the reality of women’s rights in Bangladesh has been successful to achieve the set standards of CEDAW.
Political and Public Life of Women
Article 7 of CEDAW: Elimination of Discrimination against Women in Political and Public Life Article 8 of CEDAW: Equal Opportunity for International Representation and Participation)
Bangladesh is a democratic country, although it has a long experience of martial law government. It has a unitary and parliamentary political system. Prime Minister is the chief executive of the government. National parliamentary elections are held in every 5 years. The term of local government’s one is also 5 years. The Constitution provides equal opportunities for women to participate in politics and public life. Article 10 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh ensures participation of women in all spheres of national life. Moreover, Article 28(4) of the Constitution specifically states that:
“Nothing … shall prevent the State from making special provision in favour of women …”
Women’s role in political process of the country cannot be ignored in any way. In Bangladesh, according to Election Commission statistics, around 50,000 female voters in some remote villages of the country could not cast their votes since the 1960s due to “fatwa” pronounced against them. However, the number of women voters has increased over the years with the relentless efforts taken by the government administration through vigorous campaign at the grassroots-level. Hundreds of NGO workers also supplemented the government efforts by carrying out similar campaigns in rural areas. As a result, the enthusiasm showed by the female voters in the recent parliamentary election was unprecedented.
As far as women’s direct participation into politics is concerned, women in Bangladesh almost everywhere are under-represented, both in local and national political and public forum. Women’s limited participation in electoral politics can be attributed to a number of factors, such as –
· women have to comply with the extensive domestic role in the households and families, and therefore, for vast majority of Bangladeshi women to take up and maintain a public life would mean an extra burden;
· religious fanaticism and social orthodoxy at times chain women within the four corners of their private lives;
· party organizations are basically under male control and as such, women get less support in favour of nominations;
· women in Bangladesh lack access to the kind of money and patronage that are generally considered to be crucial factors in political candidate’s ability to win elections;
· the aggressive electioneering tactics practised nationwide are likely to dissuade women from entering into a political career;
· political violence and killing further restricts women’s role in over all politics.
n addition, for women in Bangladesh, one of the liabilities of entry into public life remains ‘the threat of character assassination by whisper and innuendo’ that is damaging to the honour of the women concerned.
It is very interesting to note that in the late 19th and the early 20th Century, Bengal has been intellectually the most flourished part of the Indian Sub-continent. Bengali culture and its rich heritage have been very supportive towards women emancipation in overall Indian sub-continent. Over the years even under British Raj, Bengal has produced quite a few number of strong and uncompromising women leaderships. Moreover, Bengali women’s role in the Bengali Language Movement of 1952 and in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 cannot be undermined in any way.
Unfortunately, it is still a mystery as to how years of such rich social and cultural heritage of women emancipation finally ended up in conscious marginalisation of women leadership in Bangladeshi politics. Where do we look for the answer?
I am awfully uncomfortable with the fact that now for decades two women have alternated as head of the government in Bangladesh. The emergence of one Khaleda Zia and one Sheikh Hasina in political leadership of Bangladesh does represent a paradox in the current strong patriarchal culture of the country. But what we have to understand is that none of them emerged of their own volition. Their necessary “kinship linkages to male authority” did all the magic for them and that is why they are so good in “dynastic diplomacy”, most of the time at each other, rather than national politics as such to lead the country towards ensuring women emancipation in any real sense.
For vast majority of general women of Bangladesh, Article 65(3) of the Constitution provided for 30 reserved seats in the parliament for 10 years starting from 1990. The provision of women's reserved seats was required to be renewed within the tenure of the last parliament by bringing in a constitutional amendment bill. Due to lack of required majority, the last parliament failed to bring in such bill and to renew the same. The current government is planning to do something about women’s reserved seats very soon.
However, there has been a growing demand for direct election in women seats as it was found that such provision of reserved women seats failed to achieve its desired goal of increasing women participation in national politics. More often, these women seats were found to serve as a mere “reserved army” to the ruling party to back up their parliamentary desires.
Similarly, Article 9 of the Constitution promotes the special representation of women in local government. Women’s participation in local electoral politics was also minimal until some time ago. However, in order to secure a minimum representation of women in the Union Parishads and Pourashavas, the Government has very recently reserved three seats for women in each of these Local Government bodies. Presently, 13,879 women are holding different representative posts in the Local Government. But unfortunately, the Government is yet to formulate the roles and responsibilities of these recently elected women leadership.
Women participation in public life is also proportionately less than their male counterparts. It is unfortunate that so far there has never been a woman representation in the University Grants Commission, the Planning Commission and the Election Commission. Also till date, no woman in Bangladesh has ever contested for the post of Municipality Chairman or City Corporation Mayor.
To date, the Bangladesh Army has only a few women working in medical units but none in regular defense service. However, the military has recently taken decision to expand women’s role in the army, involving them in all activities except in combat roles. The new recruits will be designated as ‘Gentlewomen Cadets’ and should be barking orders at their troops by the year 2003. It may be mentioned that The Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force have already begun recruiting and training women officers.
Although the women have right to represent the Government internationally, in reality women’s representation has been virtually insignificant.
Women’s Nationality (Articles 9 of CEDAW: Equal Rights with regard to Nationality)
Nationality in Bangladesh is determined by birth. Women in Bangladesh have equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality. It is curious to note that since the inception of Bangladesh there has not been any comprehensive legislation on the subject. It is assumed that Pakistan Citizenship Act 1951 is somehow adopted and continued by Laws Continuance and Enforcement Order 1971, followed by the Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Order 1972.
According to s5 of Bangladesh Citizenship Act 1951, a Bangladeshi mother can never transmit citizenship to her children if the father of the child in question is a foreign national, nor is her foreign husband entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship. Whereas, a Bangladeshi man married to a foreign woman, can transmit citizenship to his children as well as to his foreign spouse.
Therefore, s5 of the Bangladesh Citizenship Act 1951 contains a ‘discrimination clause’ against women, which is in contravention of Article 9 of CEDAW and as such, should be amended to eliminate discrimination between men and women regarding citizenship.
Female Education (Article 10 of CEDAW: Equal Rights in the Field of Education)
In the Article 17 of the Constitution, providing free and compulsory education has been identified as one of the Fundamental Principles of State Policy. It reads as follows:
“The State shall adopt effective measures for the purpose of-
(a) establishing a uniform, mass oriented and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children to such stage as may be determined by law;
(b) relating education to the needs of society and producing properly trained and motivated citizens to serve those needs;
(c) removing illiteracy within such time as may be determined by law.”
The Government of Bangladesh, has made primary and secondary education (up to grade X) compulsory and free for girls. The Government also launched programs like, Food For Education Program, Nationwide Female Stipend Program, Skill Training Program, Public Awareness Program for Female Education, etc to encourage female education and to reduce female drop out rates from educational institutes.
However, the female literacy rate of the country remains proportionately less than that of male. Present national female literacy rate is only 35.9%.
The reasons for women in Bangladesh, for discriminatory access towards educational system are manifold. A few to mention:
(a) Age-old Family Values: In almost every family of Bangladesh, girl’s marriage gets priority over her education. In Bangladeshi families, too much education for women is considered to be problematic for marital prospect because the ‘market for brides’ is good for younger girls. If the daughter becomes aged, the groom (and/or his family) would demand more ‘dowry’. Therefore, the girls need to get married while they are still considered ‘young’ and ‘desirable’. Paradoxically, Afroz in her study found that there is quite a different pattern of attitude prevalent among the middle-class families of Bangladesh. Girls in middle class families are in fact encouraged to pursue higher education by their families but unfortunately, it is only for achieving a better groom and in-laws in terms of social and financial status – and not for cherishing a career in real sense.
(b) Non-cooperative Socio-Economic Environment to Female Education: Access to education for women is not only limited to getting enrolment in educational institutes. It is very important that the female students receive co-operation and encouragement from the society at large as well. A female student should get equal facilities and encouragement from the overall society to do whatever necessary to access and continue her education. She should not be put into any kind of danger of social disgrace for freely cherishing her dreams to become educated. The Government is yet to ensure the necessary supportive environment to facilitate female education in over all Bangladesh and as such, suicidal cases like that of Simi, Indrani, Mahima and Fahima remain unanswered by the conscience of the society.
(c) In-secured and Unsafe Educational Institutes: Female students are made subject to various discriminatory treatments and exploitation by the authorities and the fellow male students. Alarmingly, there have been an increasing number of reported incidences of sexual assault and rape in some reputed high educational institutions of the country. Very recently, the incidence of illegal police intrusion into women hostels to beat up victims of political rivalry has crossed all the limits of human decency and tolerance.
(d) Widespread Ignorance about Gender-sensitivity: The education system in Bangladesh, particularly at the primary and secondary level, is not gender-sensitive and the system is itself biased in terms of perpetuating stereotyped images about women’s role and abilities through various educational curricula.
(e) Vision-less National Educational Policy: The country’s national educational policy has integrated the ‘maddrasah’ system into the mainstream educational scheme but this ‘maddrasah’ system is not found to be sensitive to gender issues. There has never been any effort to revise and reformulate or control the maddrasah educational curricula to make it compatible with the international standards of women’s rights. It is worth mentioning that in Editor, The Daily Banglabazar Patrika and Others v. District Magistrate and Deputy Commissioner, Naogaon the High Court Division said, obiter dicta,
“… we find it necessary to answer a question as to why a particular group of men, upon either getting education from maddrasah or forming a religious group, are becoming fanatics with wrong views. There must be defect in their education and their attitude. As a short (term) measure, we recommend that study of Muslim Family Law Ordinance must be introduced in all school and maddrasah and that the khatibs in all the mosques must be directed to discuss the Ordinance in their Friday sermons. As a long-term measure, we recommend (a) unified education system and an enactment to control the freedom of religion subject to law, public order and morality within the scope of Article 41(1) of the Constitution. The state must define and enforce Public morality. It must educate society.”
Women in Employment (Article 11 of CEDAW: Equal Employment and Training Opportunities)
The Labour Force Survey Data of Bangladesh shows that while agriculture employs 85% of women workers, a significant proportion (8.5%) is also employed in manufacturing. In the agricultural sector, most women (94.8%) are seen to be unpaid family workers, while 2.2% of the employed women are day laborers. The non-agricultural sector is dominated by self-employed (38.5%) and employees (40.7%), although a sizeable proportion (11%) are still unpaid family workers.
It has already been pointed out that the number of women at the top of the job heirarchy is very insignificant in Bangladesh. Moreover, the training, which is required for managerial and administrative jobs, is not readily available to women, especially those with the lower levels of education.
It is true that during the last few years the pattern of women’s employment in Bangladesh has changed in both urban and rural areas, on account of changes in industrial policies and interventionist policies of NGOs. In case of urban areas, this had been mainly due to the fast growth of the ready-made garments industry that mostly employed female labour. In rural areas, most of the NGOs had involved more and more women in self-employed activities.
Different socio-economic surveys have shown that labour supply decisions of Bangladeshi women, particularly of young age, are made in the context of household cooperation and conflict in an interplay of factors, such as, that of fear of a failed marriage, family crisis of various types, desire to expand their horizons and financial independence. In most of the cases, households are adopting a long run maximizing strategy where factory-work is seen to be a way of accumulating ‘dowry’.
It is interesting to note that in urban areas although women are increasingly employed in the garment factories, they still have considerably less access to formal sector jobs compared to men. Therefore, there is a definite need for the Government and the Policy makers to create a working environment responsive to the needs of women and men alike. This should include the proper enforcement of existing labour laws as well as the elimination of discrimination against women.
Dowla points out the following problems faced by Bangladeshi women in employment environment –
· There is currently no law setting the minimum-wage for women workers;
· Women workers are mostly non-unionized, the overall trade union activity has failed to focus on women needs as the work related demands for women and men can be different;
· There is a huge ‘gender-gap’ in wages;
· Though in Bangladesh, from 8:30 pm to 7:00 am, overtime work is prohibited, it is a common phenomenon in garment factories that women workers are made to work during these hours. Government has failed to strictly impose the prohibition;
· Like many countries of Asia, in Bangladesh, there is a great deal of irregularity in providing ‘maternal leaves and benefits’ to the women workers;
· Women are also subject to sexual harassment at working places and as such, ‘protective legislation’ is very much a necessity to save the women workers/service holders from such sexual exploitation. Sexual harassment in the working environment is a very common feature in Bangladesh. The tales of harassment go unnoticed in many cases because the women are afraid of losing their jobs and fear for public shame. Sexual harassment at work can take many different forms. What we need to understand is that sexual harassment at work is not only about sex; it might simply be unwanted, abusive behavior or making some sexist jokes. At times, it might amount to intimidation or humiliation. It is very unfortunate that, in Bangladesh, there still does not exist any definition of sexual harassment of women workers at working places and whatever laws there are presently in operation suffer from inadequacy to tackle all forms of sexual harassment in the working environment. Another major problem suffered by workingwomen in the city area is the problem of finding independent and safe accommodation for decent living. For example, almost 1.5 million women are employed as garments workers and almost 86% of them come from rural areas. Neither the Government, nor the private employers provide adequate hostel or housing facilities for such women workers. In recent years, a few initiatives have been taken by some NGOs, but the facilities remain highly inadequate. Similarly, the problem of non-availability of safe, adequate and comfortable transportation system for working women requires urgent initiative from both the government and private authorities.
Women’s Health (Article 12 of CEDAW : Equality of Access to Health Care)
Women in Bangladesh are more disadvantaged than males in terms of health and nutrition. Women are more susceptible to sickness and fatigue arising out of their multiple burdens of domestic chores, child care and outside work as well as a systematic deprivation in their entitlement to a more equitable share of food within the household which had been inflicted on them since their childhood. Throughout their lives, caloric intake is lower for females than for males: 16% less for girls under 5, 11% less for girls 5-14; and 29% less for adult women.
The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR, 3%) is comparatively higher in Bangladesh. The Government claims that it has been successful to reduce MMR in Bangladesh by putting restriction on child marriages, advocating family planning campaigns, popularizing hygienic birth through trained Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA), improving pre-natal care through family welfare system and spread of medical facilities to rural areas.
However, the fact remains that every year in Bangladesh about 25,000 women dies of complication relating to pregnancy. The following reasons can be attributed to such high MMR :
· The Government has failed to strictly enforce the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 in Bangladesh. Therefore, in villages and slums girls get married comparatively at an earlier age and subsequently, become pregnant even before the appropriate age for childbearing.
· A number of imported (foreign) contraceptives and family planning methods that are freely provided by the Government and the NGOs in rural areas of Bangladesh are never tested in the laboratories beforehand. They may work well in the developed countries but are not suitable for the poor and nutritionally weak women of Bangladesh. In particular, imported methods of birth control like Depo-Provera, I.I.D., Norplant, Quinakrin etc which were never pathology tested but applied on rural women of Bangladesh had led to an alarming and dangerous situation in past. However, the Government and the concerned NGOs are still willfully shutting their eyes regarding the issue and thus, the women of Bangladesh are treated like ‘guinea pigs’ in the hand of the so called family planning policy of the Government and its development partners.
· It is true that the Government in cooperation of its development partners has tried to train a number of TBAs in Bangladesh but in reality, there is no method of monitoring their work once the training is over and also no subsequent refreshment training courses are conducted for them. It is unfortunate to note that even today in Bangladesh, only 39.4% pregnant women are attended by trained personnel during pregnancy, 60% of deliveries are attended by TBAs and only 14% deliveries are attended by trained personnel.
· The Thana Health Complexes, set up by the Government suffer from inadequate medical facilities and insufficient medical staffs for proper counseling and check-ups. Also, the Family Welfare Programs of the Bangladesh Government have failed to achieve their desired goal.
Another matter of great concern is that the medical facility in prisons for female prisoners is extremely shocking. According to Rule 94 of the Bangladesh Jail Code , there should be separate hospitals for male and female prisoners. However, this is a far cry in reality. For example, according to the finding of Odhikar , Comilla Central Jail has only one hospital, where there are 73 beds for male prisoners and only 2 beds for a total number of 79 female convicted and under trial prisoners. Also, there has been allegation that although the pregnant female prisoners are supposed to undergo periodical medical check-up at least twice a month, they are being deprived of it.
Position of Rural Women (Article 14 of CEDAW : Particular Problems Faced by Rural Women)
In rural Bangladesh, women’s contribution to agriculture, which is counted as unpaid family labour, is grossly underestimated. Rural women have extensive workloads with dual responsibility for farm and household production. It is true that in rural Bangladesh, the poverty-alleviation programs of the NGOs have positively impacted on the income and the standard of living of the rural women. However, the gender-gap is still wide in many areas, such as employment, nutrition, housing, access to education and health facilities. Although rural women are the poorest of the poor and they are represented disproportionately among the poverty-stricken people, male beneficiaries are benefited more from the NGO programs as compared to female beneficiaries. Equality of opportunities and preferential treatment is crucial for assisting the poorest of the poor in breaking out of poverty. The recognition of rural women’s rights over land and natural resources is even more crucial. Rural women have extremely limited access to alternative sources of livelihood, for instance to wage employment. The lack of secured land rights further limits the poor women’s access to other inputs like credit, necessary for carrying out productive activities. On the other way, the limited access to credit and to extension services further erodes women’s capacity to maintain control over their lands. Therefore, the rural women are caught in the "vicious circle of poverty". In addition, the structural adjustment policy, which is being implemented in Bangladesh, has also contributed to an increase in the burden of poverty on rural women. To add to their agony, the rural women of Bangladesh are very frequently made subject to “Fatwas” . Islam dictates that only Muftis (religious scholars) who have expertise in Islamic Law are authorized to declare a fatwa. However, in practice, village religious leaders in Bangladesh more often than not make declarations, naming their declaration a fatwa. Sometimes this results in extra-judicial punishments, which is definitely in breach of specific fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, such as Article 27, 31 and 35 ensuring equality before law, right to protection of law, and right to protection in respect of trial and punishment. It is found that in rural Bangladesh fatwas are mostly declared against women. Women who wish to have a mind of their own or ever dream to become socially and economically independent are the ones very likely to fall victim of such fatwas. Punishments under fatwa include flogging, stoning, execution and various kinds of humiliating punishments such as shaving of heads, sexual insults, marching undressed in public etc. In 1993, the tragic incidence of Noorjahan - a Bangladeshi girl who was buried in the ground up to her chest and stoned to death by her own villagers under execution of a Fatwa - shocked the civilized world. Human rights organizations, both national and international, raised endless questions on the role of the Government and its law enforcing machinery in combating such illegal, cruel and inhuman punishment on women. But unfortunately, Governments, of past and present, even though being aware of such cruel and inhuman activities carried on in the name of religion and fatwa, have never taken any strong action to prohibit such activities. It is really a shame that the role of all the Governments has been limited only to post-incidence visit to the victim and providing consolation to the family. People were shocked to hear about one Noorjahan, but there are still millions of Noorjahans in rural Bangladesh whose plight and torture never gets reported in the newspapers. They get systematically tortured, punished and killed, without even knowing what their fault was. In the landmark decision of Editor, The Daily Banglabazar Patrika and Others v. District Magistrate and Deputy Commissioner, Naogaon, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, stated : “Fatwa means legal opinion, which means legal opinion of a lawful person of authority. The legal system of Bangladesh empowers only courts to decide all questions relating to legal opinion on Muslim and other laws in force. We, therefore, hold that any fatwa … is unauthorized and illegal.”
The High Court’s above ruling received wide spread support from women from all corners of Bangladeshi society. The decision was considered to be as a victory for women. However, the above ruling also created violent public protests from certain segment of the society. Muslim groups contended that fatwa was an integral part of a Muslim society and therefore, treated the above ruling as an attack on their religious freedom. They also claimed that fatwa, in itself, does not pose any danger to Muslim society but it is the misinterpretation and misuse of the term and its practice, that is dangerous to the society. It is very unfortunate that several weeks later, on the face of such violent protestation from different Muslim groups, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh stayed the High Court’s above ruling for indeterminate period of time. What we all need to understand is that fatwa, when used for imposing extra-judicial punishment, at times cruel and in-human, against innocent victims, it does not any more remain as only a religious phenomenon. It then crosses the religious boundary and raises various social and legal issues. The whole notion of fatwa will then have to be looked at and interpreted from different perspectives.
According to Article 7(2) of Bangladesh Constitution, Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic of Bangladesh and if any other law is inconsistent with the Constitution that other law shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void. Now the fundamental right to freedom of religion, as guaranteed under Article 41 of the Constitution, has to be understood, interpreted and exercised in light of Article 7(2). Moreover, according to the Constitution, the fundamental right to freedom of religion is not an absolute right, rather the right is to be exercised subject to “law, public order and morality”.
Law and Women
(Article 2(f) of CEDAW: Obligations to Eliminate Discrimination from Legislation
Article 3 of CEDAW: The Development and Advancement of Women
Article 15 of CEDAW: Equality before the Law and in Civil Matters
Article 16 of CEDAW: Equality relating to Marriage and Family Relations)
The Constitution of Bangladesh treats each citizen fairly. Article 28(1) of the Constitution declares, “The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth”. Article 27 of the Constitution also guarantees equal protection of the law for all its citizens, including women. However, Article 28(2) of the Constitution states that –
“Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and of public life.”
Now, Articles 27, 28(1) and (2), if read together, very obviously lead one to conclude that women in Bangladesh are guaranteed equality with respect to men before the law in every matters except for those covered by the personal laws. Personal laws in Bangladesh are essentially based upon religious laws. It is true that the main area of discrimination against women in Bangladesh seems to be primarily in matters governing their personal status, such as regarding marriage, its dissolution, maintenance, guardianship of children etc. Moreover, when it comes to the issue of inheriting family property, both Muslims and Hindus in Bangladesh discriminate against women. Under the prevalent Muslim Law of Inheritance, a daughter is eligible to only half the share of property given to a son while Hinduism does not specify her share at all. It is worth of appreciation that to uphold gender equality, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has awarded a number of progressive judgments relying on liberal interpretation of religious laws. Unfortunately, many of them later got reversed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. In Nelly Zaman v. Giasuddin Khan , the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh laid down a judgment to the effect of giving the Muslim wives equal right to divorce and went further saying: “…by lapse of time and social development the very concept of the husband’s unilateral plea for forcible restitution of conjugal rights as against a wife unwilling to live with her husband has become outmoded and does not fit in with the accepted State and Public Principle or Policy of equality of all men and women being citizens equal before law entitles to equal protection of law and to be treated only in accordance with law as guaranteed in Articles 27 and 31 of the Constitution of Bangladesh”. In Jamila Khatun v. Rustom Ali and in Sirajul Islam v. Helena Begum , the court allowed past maintenance to divorced wife, even though there being no provision of past maintenance as such in the Family Law Ordinance 1961 or in the Family Court Ordinance 1985. In Jesmin Sultana v. Mohammad Elias , there was a direction to the legislature from the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to repeal the relevant law to abolish polygamy from the society. However, on an appeal, the High Court Division was vehemently admonished by the Appellate Division for giving such direction and the discussion on polygamy in Islam and recommendation thereon, as accorded in the High Court Division judgment, was ordered to be deleted as the Appellate Division feared that it might create confusion in the mind of the subordinate courts and the people at large. In Hefzur Rahman v. Shamsun Nahar Begum , the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh decided that- “… a person after divorcing his wife is bound to maintain her on a reasonable scale beyond the period of iddat (three months) for an indefinite period, that is to say, till she loses the status of a divorcee by remarrying another person”.
However, in Hefzur Rahman v. Shamsun Nahar Begum , the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh reversed the above High Court decision arguing, inter alia, that- “It is plainly inhuman, unjust, inequitable and unfair to impose on a man the burden of maintaining a divorced woman whom either he has not even touched or from whom he receives no consideration after divorce”.
Now, there may be some strong arguments behind the decision of reversing the High Court Decisions by the Appellate Division in both Jesmin Sultana and Hefzur Rahman, but to my opinion, questions like polygamy and the right to maintenance of a divorcee women are not only a matter of religious interpretation. There are hundreds of other aspects of interpretation to such questions and ironically, the Appellate Division failed to adequately address and/or appreciate all of them. The questions of polygamy and divorce give rise to many issues such as social, economical, psychological and the overall personal security issues of women in the society. Even the widespread incidences of torture, both physical and mental, against women for dowry and the shameful series of continuous domestic violence on women are some way or other related to the questions of polygamy and divorce. For example, in 1999, 2,500 marriages ended in divorce following dowry-related conflicts in only one district of Bangladesh, namely, Dinajpur district. Therefore, considering the vast majority of poor, illiterate and economically dependent women of Bangladesh and the increasing rate of divorce in Bangladeshi society, the Appellate Division could have taken a more rational and balancing position, but it did fear to take a bold step against the patriarchal values of Muslim society. In the criminal justice system, definition of certain offences, like rape amongst others are not defined from feminist perspective and therefore, not ‘user-friendly’ in respect of women. Moreover, the need for corroboration of the victim’s testimony in respect of identification of the accused in cases of rape seems illogical in view of the fact that such crimes are not committed in front of witnesses. Besides, it begs the question that if the victim’s identification of the accused in a theft or a robbery case is considered to be the best evidence then why should the rule be different in case of a rape? For a long time, there has been a strong demand from the women activists of Bangladesh to change the relevant laws and specially, the law of evidence to make it pro-women in case of rapes and other sexual offences. Of 311 raped-women, surveyed by Ain-O-Shalish Kendra, none received any form of justice because of loopholes in the law. It is true that the government of Bangladesh over the years has enacted a number of new laws with stricter exemplary punishments for violence against women offences. However, in July 2001, in the case of The State v. Md. Moinul Haque , the High Court Division observed- “…from 1983 to 2000 law on cruelty to women and control of oppression on women and children has been changed thrice with little or no effect on the ever-increasing rate of violence against women including rape and murder in alarming frequency.”
The High Court Division in the above case of 2001, also proposed a number of material amendments in the prevalent laws of Bangladesh to make them more women-friendly. Their proposals include, inter alia,-
(a) Section 375, 376 of the Penal Code, Section 6 of the Oppression of Women and Children (Special Provision) Act 1995, Section 9 of the Women and Children Anti-oppression Act of 2000 be amended to the effect that in all cases of custodial rape burden of proof be shifted to the accused of the rape to prove that sexual intercourse was not against the will and without the consent of the victim.
(b) Section 114 of the Evidence Act 1872 , be changed to the effect that in cases of rape in police custody there shall be a presumption in law that the person or persons, in whose custody the victim is raped, are the rapists and the onus to prove otherwise will be on the person or persons having the custody of the victim at the time of rape.
(c) The victim of rape should be compensated by giving her half of the property of the rapist/rapists as compensation in order to rehabilitate her in the society.
Now, at the time when general public is alarmed by rape and killing of victim girls in jail custody, it may be strongly asserted that the law enforcing agencies and the lower judiciary of Bangladesh, in general, are still not at all ‘gender-sensitive’. The fact is more reflected when it comes to dealing with women sent to ‘safe-custody’ in Bangladesh. Questions arise as to what it means by “safe-custody”, who are sent to such “safe-custody” and how safe is this “safe-custody” for women.
From time immemorial, the police and lower judiciary of Bangladesh have developed a coercive practice whereby innumerable numbers of female victims of various offences (such as rape, sexual assault, trafficking, kidnapping, abduction etc.) have been sent to safe-custody on the presumption of providing them with extra-judicial protection. The legality of such system of “safe-custody” has already been challenged in a number of cases. Very recently, in Rokeya Kabir v. Government of Bangladesh, The High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, following the decision of the Appellate Division in Profulla Chandra Chakraborty v. Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, stated: “… safe custody is a judicial custody for the definite purpose of ensuring the welfare of a victim girl devised by our courts and sanctioned by the Appellate Division. … It does not matter that there is no statutory basis for safe custody as there is a law laid down by the highest court of the country.” However, still a matter of great concern is that no place exists as “safe-custody” in reality. The innocent victim women are, therefore, sent to the ordinary prisons to live with criminal offenders and unfortunately, made to follow all the rules and regulations of ordinary prisons. It purports to provide safety to those in danger of further assault, but in reality it has rather been a form of punishment to the victim women. It is apparently an on-slaughter on the fundamental freedoms of liberty guaranteed by the Constitution and as such, violates all norms of human rights. Until 2000, there was no term known as “safe-custody” in the wide variety of ‘black and white’ legal texts of Bangladesh. The term was first used in s 31 of the Women and Children Anti-oppression Act of 2000 which makes it mandatory on the part of the court, if it ever decides on the need of providing “safe-custody”, to keep the innocent female victims somewhere outside the ordinary prisons. But it is still very unfortunate that the law does not even recognise the need to consider the will or wish of the very female victim, regarding staying in any such “safe-custody”.
Trafficking in Women and Prostitution (Article 6 of CEDAW : Suppression of trafficking in Women and exploitation of Prostitution)
Bangladesh ranks as one of the countries with the highest number of trafficking in women and children. Hundreds of Bangladeshi girls are smuggled out of the country each day and most of them end up as prostitutes in Pakistan, India and Middle East. There are two basic methods by which traffickers obtain women and children: One is to kidnap them. The second, is to lure the women with false promises of jobs and marriage options. Traffickers pose as prospective grooms, then take the girls out of the border as their wives. Women of Bangladesh are the poorest of the poor. Women are susceptible to becoming poor when they loose the male earning member of the family due to abandonment, divorce or death and because they face social barriers in accessing economic assets (skill, property, credit etc.), it is much harder for women to overcome poverty. The poverty question is someway inseparable from the gender question. While for men extreme conditions and poverty imply starvation, for women these invariably involve sexual exploitation and a complete devaluation of their lives. Women in Bangladesh are the first to be sold or exchanged for food.
According to an estimate of the Human Rights Organizations in Pakistan, where most of the Bangladeshi trafficked women are sold, there are currently about 1,500 Bengali women in Pakistani Jail and about 2,00,000 women and children are involved in the slave trade. According to various national newspaper reports of Bangladesh, there are currently another 2,00,000 Bangladeshi women in Middle East countries and 30,000 Bangladeshi women are in brothels in Calcutta . 500 women are also in different jails in India.
Although in Bangladesh, laws against trafficking exist, their implementation remains very weak. Also, the process of repatriation for victims of traffic is lengthy due to a general lack of action and interest of Bangladeshi embassies, and the bureaucracy between the Ministries of Women and Child Affairs, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Social Welfare. Except for a few intervention by Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association and Women Rights Activist Groups of Bangladesh, unfortunately no substantial steps has been taken by the Government to arrange for getting back the huge number of trafficked women to Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, currently there are 60,000 to 100,000 women engaged in prostitution. What is alarming is that, there are 15,000 to 20,000 children in street prostitution in Dhaka, most of whom are in prostitution even before 12 years of age. Under the legal provisions in Bangladesh, it is not clear whether prostitution is as such legal or illegal in the eye of law. Bangladesh Constitution states that, “the state shall adopt effective measures to prevent prostitution and gambling.” There are also laws against forcing anyone into prostitution or immoral acts. However, in Bangladesh, there are no laws against a person of 18 or above engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money. Therefore, in Sultana Nahar v. Bangladesh & Others , the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh stated: “Since the profession or occupation of the sex workers has not been declared unlawful by any enactment, though it appears to be immoral, it can not be said that this profession is unlawful and as such, the sex workers are entitled to be protected under … Constitution.”
Nevertheless, prostitutes are often subjected to harassment and violence from the law-enforcing agency. At times, Government and health officials also deny services to prostituted women and their children on the sole basis that the woman is in prostitution. Besides, within the country, there has been only a few rehabilitation programs for prostitutes undertaken by the Government and some NGOs; however, their success had been very modest.
Sex Role Stereotyping in Bangladesh (Article 5 of CEDAW: Sex Roles and Stereotyping)
The Government of Bangladesh has taken a very limited initiative to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices that are based on stereotyped roles for women.
“Gender-gap” portrayed in the primary education textbooks should be a matter of great concern for the Government. The materials, stories, pictures presented in these textbooks are alarmingly gender-biased. As a result, the society learns to undermine the role of women from an early age. The Bangladesh School Textbook Board Authority, which is responsible for regulating the Primary Education Curriculum in Bangladesh, has, till date, no policy to discourage stereotyping the role of women in educational materials. In such materials, females are always portrayed as weak gender and care givers . Women’s contribution towards agriculture is always ignored as they are never depicted in primary school textbooks as taking part in agricultural activities in any way. Even the women’s role in the Liberation War of Bangladesh has always been undermined. Also, it is always a boy who is depicted as to thinking of science and technology while young girls depicted as playing with dolls. The social stereotypes of the roles expected of men and women are naturally reflected in the media. For example, in the electronic media, the women are mostly portrayed as care-givers to the family and to the society as a whole. Although, in certain dramas and serials, the conflict between the unconventional female character and the society is reflected at times, however, the solution suggested is always the one that upholds the traditional gender-biased values of the patriarchal society. The Government is yet to formulate an effective “national media guideline” in this regard. Apart from the Film Censor Board Authority there are no mechanisms to control the images of women shown in the media. Even at times the very role of the Film Censor Board is questionable when hundreds of movies get censorship certificate where the women are used and portrayed as only a sex object.
Currently, the Government of Bangladesh with the help of UNICEF, is carrying on Workshops on Gender-sensitivity for the Programme Producers of National Broadcasting Media, but there has not been any effort to monitor the over all system from gender perspective. The situation of print media in Bangladesh is equally frustrating. Yellow journalism provides more news on the sensational life-style of one Monica Lewinsky, holiday details of one Julia Roberts or the post-mortem analysis of what went wrong with one Princess Diana’s marital life. But the struggle of 90% Bangladeshi women never gets its due share of importance as headlines. Even the lives of active, independent, economically self-sufficient Bangladeshi women, though few in number, yet remain to be explored in media. To me, each of these women offers a unique vision of female empowerment in Bangladeshi society and each offers a far more sensational life than that of Monica Lewinsky or Julia Roberts. Survey on the daily newspapers of Bangladesh shows that women issues are under-represented in all most all of them. Woman becomes news only when she is illegally pregnant, caught in adultery, or become rape and acid victims. In all most all reports of gender-violence cases, it is the picture of the female victim that gets printed in the newspapers but not that of the criminal. Very recently, in July 2001, in the case of The State v. Md. Moinul Haque , the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh very clearly directed- “Anonymity of the (rape) victim should be maintained throughout the proceeding as well as in the judgment and reports if any.” However, in the absence of any national media policy, it is very difficult for government of Bangladesh to monitor the compliance to the direction of the High Court in media reporting practices in Bangladesh. It must be mentioned here that certain daily newspapers of Bangladesh have allocated one weekly page as “Women’s Page” in their routine publications. But 80%-85% articles in these so called “Women’s Pages” are on the topics like - cooking recipes, household maintenance, beauty care, child care, shopping guidelines, fashions and designs – as if the worth of women can only be realized in those fields only. It is again unfortunate that the Government has not taken any step to control gender-biased policies of individual newspaper agencies.
Conclusion
Women's rights have become the most inspiring rallying flag in today's world. Seminars are held, debates are organized, conventions are signed and of course, promises are made again and again. In the international forum, the tales of the State Parties claiming to have achieved a ‘miracle success’ on women's rights issue sounds impressive! But for the women of Bangladesh, it is still a long way ahead to actually realize the standards of CEDAW Convention. No doubt that, from the international market, their Government has brought home a “magic-lamp”, called the ‘Women's Convention’ and promised them that all forms of gender discrimination would be eliminated from the society at once. However, the reality falls far apart. Prevalent age-old traditions, orthodox social norms, conservative values, economic dependency, illiteracy, gender discrimination, violence and above all the inadequate governmental efforts and efficient policy measures - all makes the so-called “magic lamp” vulnerable to sustain the gusty wind.
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